Don't Tell Maki
by eeweeb
Summary: Maki finds out Nico's real reason for becoming an idol, for her smile to reach her father someday.With that in mind, Maki decides to find her father for her in secret. However, every person that seems to know anything about the man refuses to tell her anything. Maki undergoes her own investigation to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Nico's father.
1. School Idol's Diary

**Hello! Welcome to my second fanfic! This is a story based off of Chapter 5 of Nico's School Idol Diary that can be found here.**

 **The idea of this fanfic comes from the following quote from it,**

" _ **The only thing I've wanted and thought of becoming was a true idol.**_

 _ **If I can dance, sing, and shine on TV, if everyone praises my cuteness, and if I can spread my best smile across Japan.**_

 _ **Then maybe that will reach Daddy someday.**_

 _ **After all, my smile is the greatest in the world.**_

 _ **Nobody can beat my nico nico nii~**_

 _ **That's why I put effort in what I want to become."**_

 **-Nico Yazawa, School Idol Diary, Chapter 5.**

 **You don't need to read the Nico's School Idol Diary, it's just so you all know where this idea came from.**

 **Summary: Maki finds out Nico's real reason for becoming an idol, for her smile to reach her father someday. Wanting to make Nico happy, Maki decides to find her father for her in secret. However, every person that seems to know anything about the man refuses to tell her anything. Maki undergoes her own investigation to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of Nico's father. Eventual Nico/Maki.**

* * *

Chapter 1: School Idol's Diary

"Say it with feeling! Like this, Nico nico nii!"

"Maki maki maa!"

"That's no good. Do it again! Nico nico nii!"

"Maki maki maa!"

Nico huffed in annoyance. "You aren't even trying."

"That's because this is stupid," replied Maki, who was beyond done with this exercise.

The two girls were alone in the club room since Nico had insisted that Maki stay after practice for 'special idol classes'. The rest of the group was long gone, and even the sun was starting to set outside.

"It is not! And I even took the time to make your own special version." Nico frowned, "You aren't taking this idol job seriously."

"What do you mean? Whenever we perform I'm always smiling, it's just doing this kind of stuff that's embarrassing."

Nico's eyes narrowed. She turned around completely so that her back was facing the red head girl.

"No. That's not what an idol does."

Maki twirled her hair with her index finger.

"Is that so? Then what is an idol's job."

Nico turned to face the younger girl again. Her face was serious, a rare occurrence for the eccentric girl.

"Anyone can smile. It doesn't take an idol to do that." Nico looked straight into Maki's purple eyes. "An idol's job is to make others smile."

Maki's mouth went dry. The look Nico was giving her was so intense and honest, she couldn't help but blush from the situation. She swallowed, trying to compose herself so that she could give a sassy retort, but she couldn't. Her heart wasn't in it. She internally cursed the feelings that the older girl caused her to feel.

" _I'm supposed to be annoyed by her…"_

"Alright!" Nico declared, breaking Maki from her trance. "I've decided, you're coming home with me today! We're going to work on this until you're a true idol!"

Maki groaned. She knew better than to argue with Nico when she was this determined.

* * *

The walk to Nico's apartment was uneventful, both girl's bickered about meaningless things as usual. On the way, Nico had somehow persuaded Maki to buy her an ice cream so they took a small detour to a nearby ice cream shop. In the end, while the two girls were arguing over who got the biggest scoop they tripped over uneven sidewalk, leaving their snack to melt on the cement floor. They entered Nico's apartment arguing about who's fault it was that they had dropped their little treat.

"You can't blame the great Nico-ni! It was the floor! It plotted against us!"

"Ok, _great_ Nico-ni, please tell me how the floor magically lifted off the ground."

Nico gasped. "You're right. Nozomi must have used her spiritual powers."

Maki rolled her eyes, stifling a giggle as she did so. Nico winked at the girl and called out to her siblings.

"Cocoro! Cocoa! Cotaro! I'm home! I brought Maki with me!"

"Onee-sama!" Cocoro, the eldest of Nico's siblings appeared with her younger siblings in tow. "Welcome home!"

Cocoro looked just as she had the first time Maki had met her. She remembered thinking that she looked so much like Nico that if they were to photograph her when she turned seventeen, they would be identical. She could only hope that the eldest of her siblings remained as level headed as she had back then.

"Onee-chan!" chirped Cocoa, running to hug Nico.

" _Ah. Yes, I remember this was the eccentric one. Just like her big sister."_ Maki remembered Cocoa as a more tomboy version of Nico, but with brown hair instead of the striking black hair the rest of the family had. Maki wondered where she had gotten her hair from, she had never met Nico's parents before.

"Back-up dancer" said the Cotaro slowly, lifting up his hand to point at Maki.

The youngest sibling and the only male of the children was the same as ever. Carrying a toy hammer with snot dripping from his nose.

Maki's eye twitched.

"Ehehehee, no Cotaro, remember, all of Muse is an idol _group_. No one is a back-up dancer anymore." Nico grinned mischievously, "But that doesn't mean they don't have a lot to learn from Nico!"

"Onee-chan! I'm hungry!" interrupted Cocoa, tugging at Nico's school bag.

Nico patted her head affectionately, "Ok, let me just get Maki situated, and I'll start cooking dinner. Start washing some vegetables and Cocoro, start chopping them once they've been watched. Be careful."

"Yes ma'am!" chanted the girls in unison as they rushed to the kitchen to get started on dinner. Nico turned to Maki.

"Alright, off to my room!"

Nico's room looked almost the same as it had when Maki had first entered it with the other members of Muse. There was pink _everywhere_. Pink curtains, pillows, stuffed animals, and even the walls were painted pink. The only difference that could be easily spotted were the posters on the walls. Gone were the altered posters with Nico posed at the center. Instead, there were the original Muse posters with all the girls evenly displayed, the true atmosphere of Muse. Maki smiled at the poster, those were true smiles they wore on their faces, there was nothing posed or fake about them. She felt a twinge of pride to be a part of such a close knit group. If she was going to be an idol, she could only be one as a member of Muse.

Nico went straight to closet and began to rummage through some boxes that were deep inside. Maki invited herself to sit on some of Nico's cushions on the floor as she absently played with some stuffed animals.

"What are you looking for?" Maki asked as she played with a stuffed bunny's floppy ears.

"Your new best friend."

"Eh?"

"Here it is!" Nico groaned as pulled out a small box from her closet. "Here." She dropped it next to where Maki was sitting.

"My new best friend is a cardboard box?"

"Not the box, but what's inside. Take a look."

Maki put the stuffed bunny aside as she picked up it up, opening it slowly. The box _was_ heavy despite its small size. Opening it, she found small notebooks with various girlish designs on the covers. She picked one up and examined it curiously.

"What are these?"

"Notes. Notes about every type of idol there is. How to act, sing, smile, talk, it's all in these notebooks." She crossed her arms with a smug expression. "It took me years to take all those notes, and hours of watching idols perform and interview. But, it was worth it, because in that box is the ultimate guideline to becoming the perfect idol."

Dreading its contents, Maki cautiously opened the notebook she holding to the first page.

 _Perfecting idol characters:_

 _-You need to choose a cute, exciting character, one that people would be attracted to._

 _-It's ok if the character is funny, remember, and idol's job to make other people smile!_

 _-Practice. Practice, practice, practice. Practice makes perfect!_

 _-Hopefully, this cute character becomes a part of you!_

Maki couldn't help but think that these notes had literally become Nico's entire existence.

"I'm supposed to read _all_ of these?"

"Of course." Nico started walking away from the red head to leave her room. "You can just go home now and read them. I need to start cooking dinner for my siblings, you're more than welcome to start reading them here too if you'd like."

With that, Nico exited the room, calling for Cocoro and Cocoa to find some ingredients she would need.

Maki sighed and flipped through the pages of the notebook in her hands. It was full of writing, complete with little doodles and additional notes written with tiny letters to fit the page. Knowing Nico, she probably memorized every detail of every notebook so she could probably quiz her on the contents if she wanted to. The bright red haired girl picked another notebook and skimmed the contents of that one too, learning that Nico had compared and contrasted the "cat character" and the "bunny character" to see the pros and cons of it. Maki smiled at the comparisons, only Nico would.

After a few minutes, she looked up from her readings, deciding it was time for her to go home. She had indulged in Nico's requests long enough, and now there was this heavy box to take home. She decided to call her father to pick her up so she wouldn't have to walk all the way to her house, which was a considerable distance away. Taking out her phone she dialed his phone number to see if was actually able to. Since he was a surgeon at their family's hospital, it was sometimes difficult to get a hold of him.

Tapping her fingers impatiently, she listened to the ringing of the phone hoping he would pick up.

"Hello? Maki?"

"Papa!" Maki was relieved. "Are you free right now?"

"Yes, I just got home. Where are you? Your mother says you haven't come home yet and it's already dark. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm at my friend's house. We uh, had some extra practice to do."

"Oh ok, for your singing group?"

"Yeah, that one."

"You should be coming home now, do you need me to pick you up?"

"Yes, please! I'm at Nico-chan's house. Nico Yazawa. Bring Mama with you, otherwise you'll get lost and take hours to get here. You know you're terrible with directions. I'll text you the address."

"Nico Yazawa? You've never mentioned her before."

"Of course I have. She's a member of Muse, you probably weren't paying attention."

Dr. Nishikino laughed. "Ok, then. I'll be heading over now, be ready."

"Ok, bye. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

Maki hung up, and promptly texted her father the address. She didn't know why she had it memorized, but ever since Muse had visited the apartment she could never forget it.

After about fifteen more minutes, she decided to get up.

" _I better go wait for Papa in the living room. Oh, Nico-chan's cooking smells so good…"_

Pushing herself off the floor cushion, she saw something bright out of the corner of her eye. Inside the closet was a bright pink notebook with a large red heart in the center of the cover.

Intrigued, Maki walked over to pick it up, thinking that it must have fallen out of the box when Nico had pulled it out.

" _No, wait. The box was closed…it couldn't have fallen out. Oh…"_

Picking it up, Maki noticed that it wasn't just a notebook. It was a _diary._ There wasn't just one lock that sealed it shut, there were _two_. Two separate key holes to ensure its privacy.

" _Two keys to lock it? That seems a bit much…"_

Her curiosity got the better of her. She slipped the diary into her school bag, double checking that she was indeed alone in the room. Knowing that she didn't have much time before her father would arrive she quickly scanned the room for any possible places to hide diary keys.

" _What am I doing? Why do I even care about this…"_

"Maaaaaaakiiiii-chan! Your dad's here at the door!"

Maki froze. This was her chance to put it back. It was now or never, and she knew what the right choice was. But as she reached into her bag to take the diary out, she just couldn't.

" _I…I want to know more about Nico-chan…there is just so much about that I don't know. I want to understand her, to know her. Maybe then, I'll be able to sort these feelings of mine."_

Leaving the diary in her bag, she walked out of the room, carrying the load of notebooks in her arms. When she entered the living she found Nico talking to her father who was standing at the door. Her father's face lit up at the sight of her and he quickly walked past Nico to help with the heavy item Maki was carrying.

"Whoa! What's this? It's heavy!" although, even as he spoke, Dr. Nishikino was effortlessly tucking the box under one arm."

"Maki's homework." Nico's expression couldn't be more smug.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Nico-chan! Bye Cocoro, Cocoa, and Cotaro" Maki followed her father out the door.

* * *

Once seated in her father's car, Maki noticed something odd.

"Where's Mama?"

"Oh, she was too tired to come, so I came alone."

Maki frowned. "Then how did you get here so quickly? You're always get lost, even when using the most direct route." She looked around at the outside environment. "And Nico's apartment isn't even that obvious either."

The man laughed loudly. "Please Maki, give me some more credit, I can find my way around sometimes."

The young teen decided to shrug it off, deciding that these details weren't important. She leaned forward to adjust the radio frequency, stopping when she heard a soothing piano solo. Closing her eyes, she lay her head back against the head rest, thinking about the day's events, smiling at the thought of Nico's antics. Sure she had wasted money on fallen ice cream, but the memory of Nico's face as it happened was priceless. Memories like that are precious, Maki decided when she joined Muse that she would create as many of these memories as possible. She could just feel her once cold heart growing soft, but perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing.

" _I wonder what Papa and Nico were talking about before I got there…Wait."_ Her amethyst eyes shot open in realization.

"Papa, how did you know which apartment number was Nico's? I know I didn't send it to you."

The young girl pulled out her cell phone to skim the message she had sent.

"No, I didn't. Papa, how did you know?"

Her father was silent for a moment. He kept his eyes on the road as the hands positioned on the steering wheel clenched tightly. Finally, he responded.

"I looked it up."

"Looked it up?"

"The hospital records. Yazawa-san goes to our hospital along with the rest of family. So, I just looked it up on the hospital database. Her complete address was listed there."

"Oh." Maki frowned. "How did you know Nico went to our hospital? Do you know her?"

"No, I just assumed she did. Our hospital services almost everyone in the city."

"Oh…I see."

* * *

Maki entered her room feeling exhausted. She felt guilty for being suspicious of her father, even though she didn't even understand what she had exactly been suspicious _of_. His explanation made sense, so she easily let it go. She plopped on her bed, taking her school bag with her. Turning over, she reached into it, pulling out the real source of her guilty conscious, the diary.

There was still the locks to consider. There was no way she could open it without breaking them.

" _Maybe I'll try to pick the lock."_ She shook her head. No, that wouldn't do.

" _Or maybe it will…how hard can it be?"_ Maki began to search for a hair pin, she had seen in movies that people often picked locks with something as simple as a paper clip or a bobby pin. Of course, movie logic isn't always the most reasonable, but at this point anything was worth a try. Finding the paper clip first, she gave it try.

The locks didn't even last a minute.

Click!

Click!

" _Must be a very cheap diary then."_ That could be the only explanation.

The normally cool headed teen took a deep breath and opened the diary to first page.

 _Property of Nico Yazawa_

 _Gifted by: Kotaro Yazawa_

 _Date received: July 22, 2006_

" _Kotaro? Isn't that the name of her little brother? But 2006? That was nine years ago…and Cotaro is only about four or five now…so he couldn't have been the one to give this her. But Yazawa…so it must family then. July 22 is Nico's birthday too, so it must be a gift."_

Maki flipped the pages skimming its contents. The first few pages hardly had any writing in it, and the handwriting was messy and sloppy. From the looks of it, Nico had written those when she first received the gift, making her about eight years old at the time. There wasn't anything worth mentioning in the first few pages, just Nico talking about her daily life at school and how she loved to sing.

But then, the quality of the journal changed. Gone was the childish writing, the unsteady hand of a child. It was replaced by more mature language, experienced, clearly done by someone older. The date of the first entry with this new format was July 22, 2010. Nico was now twelve years old, old enough to write within the lines of the pages. Twelve years old is a prime age for girls to spill out their deepest secrets into a trusting journal. Maki knew that now, she would find out many things about her older friend. The guilt inside of her awakened again with a vengeance. But as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. Maki could only hope that Nico wouldn't kill her if she found out.

 _Dear diary,_

 _Now that's a cheesy start to this isn't it? Jeez, just looking at my previous entries make me cringe from embarrassment, but what can you do? I was only eight years old, you have to cut me some slack. Anyways, let's get to the point. Today, I turned twelve. Do you know what means dearest diary of mine? It means that it's prime time to be starting my career! What career starts at twelve? The best and only one for me! Becoming an idol!_ _Although, a lot of girl's become idols at even a younger age. That's ok, I don't need that kind of head start. Daddy always said that my smile was the greatest in the world. I'm sure he still thinks that even if he's not around anymore. Daddy left us a little while ago, and Mommy just found out that she's pregnant. I'm going to have another younger sibling, isn't that just great? Money is going to be tight now that Mommy is single mom, but I have faith that we'll make it ok! After all, idols have to remain positive right? I miss him a lot, but if I can make him smile then I'll do my best! The only thing I've wanted and thought of becoming was a true idol. If I can dance, sing, and shine on TV, if everyone praises my cuteness, and if I can spread my best smile across Japan._

 _Then maybe that will reach Daddy someday. _

Maki's eyes widened. Daddy? Where was Nico's father?

" _Come to think of it, I don't think Nico has ever mentioned her father before…he must have left them…with his wife pregnant…how awful."_

Maki finally knew the reason Nico had been so persistent in becoming an idol. She wanted to find her father. While Nico did enjoy being an idol, there was always that extra push to be great, to be noticed and recognized. Wherever her father was, if Nico was famous enough, he'd see her, and that's all she ever wanted. Maki couldn't imagine being in her position. What would she do? What if her piano playing could bring a smile all across Japan? What if, if her father had walked out on her and her mother, she could still make him smile? She knew one thing for certain. She would still want to see him again, she could never hate her own father. So, she made a decision.

" _I'll find Nico's father, in secret."_

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter! Please review! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	2. Secrecy Creates Curiosity

**I know it's been a while since I've updated! I usually try to update at least once a week, but school has been a bit crazy lately so I'm pretty behind on everything right now. I actually had this chapter about halfway done for about a week, but I just couldn't find the time to finish it until today** _ **and**_ **I didn't want to post a chapter that was too short either.**

 **More notes at the end of chapter, for now please read and hopefully enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Secrecy Creates Curiosity

 _Dear Diary._

 _Today was another audition. That's two in just three weeks! I'm glad we live in a city where talent flourishes and people seek out those who demonstrate it. I admit, the first audition was a disaster, I was so nervous that my voice was shaking, I couldn't even say a single sentence without stuttering. The second was better, much better. I was really nervous at first, but one of the judges was a real idol! She was so pretty and poised, and so nice! Before my audition she came to give every applicant a hug and a good luck speech. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. That is what a true idol is. That is what I want to be._

 _Daddy will be so proud._

"Maaaaaki-chan! Helloooooooo!"

Maki eyes scanned the walls of the clubroom, carefully examining the features of each poster with idols on them.

"Maaaaaki-chan!"

She wondered if the idol from Nico's second audition was one of those faces that smiled at her from those posters.

"Maki-chan!"

Maki blinked. "Huh? What is it?"

"What's got you so distracted today Maki-chan?" The orange haired leader of Muse crossed her arms. "You're usually the one that's the most attentive. Are you ok?"

Maki rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. A girl can doze off every now and then."

"You of all people should know about dozing off, Honoka." A strict voice sounded from behind Maki sounding slightly apprehensive.

"Eheheheee, that's true huh?"

Umi continued, "You should learn some more discipline, maybe some extra muscle training would help."

"Ehhhhhh? No way! I'll die!" Honoka pretended to faint in her chair.

Throughout the whole exchange Maki continued to gaze at the posters.

"Are you interested in the idols in the poster Maki-chan?" spoke a soft, sweet voice. Hanayo, the second most knowledgeable person about idols seemed excited that Maki had finally taken some sort of interest in them. If there was question about idols, she would be able to answer.

"I'm just curious, were any of these idols around about five years ago?"

Hanayo looked surprised. "Five years ago? No, most idols age out of their units by then, only the idols that start young and continue as solo artists usually last for more than five years."

"So it's not possible? What's the age limit for an idol's popularity?"

"That depends…"

"So idols don't have the much time in the spotlight then?"

"No! I don't mean that! I just mean that they often age out of their idol _units_. They can still join another unit more suited to their age, or go solo."

"What about school idols? Are school idols really popular? Even to the general public? Could a school idol really be famous all throughout Japan?"

"Of course! Look at A-RISE! They're famous all across Japan!"

"I see…"

"Why the sudden interest in idols Maki-chan?" inquired Kotori who had just succeeded in stopping Umi from scolding Honoka any further.

"She's been reading my notebooks that why." Nico responded for Maki wiping a fake tear, "I'm so proud."

"N-n-notebook?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I had one notebook in the box I gave you entirely dedicated to the aging out process." Nico said confidently, "Just wait till you read it, all your questions will be answered."

"O-oh, yes, of course, those notebooks. I…I've been reading them like you asked." Lied Maki.

"Hmmmmph. See everyone, I've tamed the stubborn Maki." Nico held a smug expression.

"What are talking about?! Tamed? I'm not some type of animal!"

"Maki's like a cat nya!"

"Don't encourage her, Rin" Maki snapped. Rin just laughed.

"Hmmm, the cards tell me that it's something else, isn't that right, Maki-chan?" Bright green eyes watched Maki intently.

" _Nozomi…if there's anyone in this school that might know something…it would be her."_

The red head tried to send a message to the group's fortune teller with her eyes. Nozomi only winked in response.

"Hehe, don't worry about Nozomi, she's just kidding." pitched in the blond beauty of the group. Eli now turned to Nozomi, "I think I'm going to head on home now, are you coming with me?"

"Mmm, sure. If Maki doesn't want to talk to me about something instead."

Eli turned to Maki, surprised.

"U-um…Yes…If you would. Please walk home with me, I do need to ask you a few things."

Nozomi gave a wide smile. "Of course Maki-chan."

"Ehhhhh?" interrupted Nico, "Who said this meeting was over! We still have some decisions to make about the upcoming performance! We said we would finalize everything today!"

Nico crossed her arms and turned around to face the window.

"Nico-chan." Kotori said with her soothing voice, "One more day wouldn't hurt, besides, it gives us all more time to think of the best decisions."

There was a pause and some shuffling around. Nico took a moment before answering reluctantly.

"Alright, meeting adjourned."

A giggle sounded from behind her.

"What?" grumbled Nico, still facing away from the group.

"They're already gone nya!"

* * *

"So, what is it that you want to talk to me about Maki-chan?"

Maki took a deep breath. "It's about Nico."

"I figured as much. Are you finally going to confess?"

"W-w-hat?!" spluttered the first year, her cheeks turning the same color as her hair. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh? Was I wrong? That's quite rare. I thought you were ready to confess."

"C-c-confess?! That would mean that I…that I like Nico…"

"Don't you?"

Maki was silent.

"Hmmm, still in denial? I could have sworn I sensed some sort of determination coming from you."

"…"

"It's ok, whenever you're ready, I'll be here to help you." Nozomi said gently, "But if you don't want to talk about confessing to Nicocchi, then…what do you want to talk about?"

"It's about Nico's father."

Nozomi stopped walking. "Nicocchi's…father?"

"Yes, do you anything about him? About why he left?"

"Why he…left? How do you know anything about Nico's father? Did she tell you herself?" Nozomi asked quizzically. She furrowed her eyebrows together as she frowned.

"Well no…she didn't exactly."

"Then?"

"…"

"Maki-chan…what's made you so interested in Nico's father?" Her tone was serious.

"I…I read her diary!" blurted out the first year, incredibly embarrassed.

"Nicocchi's… _diary_?"

"Yes…it was gifted to her by her father, Kotaro Yazawa." said Maki weakly, feeling the guilt build up inside her again.

"Oh dear."

"But I'm going to make it up to her! That's why I need to find her father for her! She wrote in her diary that the reason she became an idol was so that her smile would reach her father someday! That's why I need to find out all the information about him so I can find him and bring him to our next big concert! It's Nico's dream!"

"Find him?"

"Yes, find him." Said Maki, annoyed that Nozomi wasn't understanding the situation.

"Have you…talked to Nicocchi about this?"

"Of course not! It's going to be surprise! And I figured that if I brought her father to her that maybe…maybe she won't be so angry about me reading her diary."

Nozomi made a face. "I don't think any of this is necessary Maki-chan…"

Maki turned to face Nozomi. "Why? I'm sure she wants to see her father again."

"Well of course she does but-"

"So you do know about him!" interrupted Maki excitedly, "Please tell me everything you know!"

"…"

"Nozomi?"

"I can't do that." Nozomi's face was grave. She turned her head away from the first year. "I can't tell you anything about her father."

"But why? I just need to know a little bit more about the situation…" Maki tried to reason, "You are the most knowledgeable person I know! If you don't tell me, who will?"

"Well…maybe you just aren't meant to know…" mumbled Nozomi beginning to look very uncomfortable.

Maki frowned. Nozomi was acting strange. The third year was usually bold and teasingly knowledge. It was more likely for her to taunt someone with a piece of information rather than outright withholding it. Of course, she knew that this was a more serious matter, not something to be teased about. Still, Nozomi was acting suspicious, as though something was really holding her back from saying anything.

"Do you want to tell me?"

"Do I _want_ to?"

" _Can_ you tell me?"

Nozomi thought about her answer carefully. "No. My answer is no to both questions."

Maki huffed. "Why?"

"It isn't it my place to tell. It isn't even my place to _know_."

Maki rubbed her forehead feeling stressed. _"What's the big deal? I just want to know why he left, it really isn't that complicated."_

"Then how do you know?"

Nozomi sighed. "It was an accident that I found out. That's all I will say."

"Is Nico hurting because of him?" Maki whispered.

Nozomi paused and looked up at the sky. "She loves her father very much. He never hurt her. You don't need to worry about that." She turned to look at Maki seriously. "I only say that much so that you don't overreact over this situation. Just because I won't tell you anything doesn't mean it's something worth looking into. I'd say just respect the family's privacy."

Maki was quiet. She knew she had already invaded Nico's privacy by just reading the diary in the first place. Was she really taking this too far? But the thought of how Nico would react to seeing her father in audience…it couldn't escape her mind. At that moment, Nico's dream would have been fulfilled.

Nozomi stopped walking.

"This is where we part ways. I live in the opposite direction."

"Oh, right…of course, thank you for talking with me Nozomi,"

Nozomi took Maki's hands gently and looked straight into Maki's eyes.

"Give Nico time…ok?"

Maki looked away.

Nozomi smiled weakly. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Letting go of Maki's hand she turned to walk away.

"See you tomorrow Nozomi!"

The third year simply waved in response.

" _I can't stop now"_

* * *

Maki tentatively held Nico's diary again. She was sitting on her bed with the diary, deciding on her next move. She had neglected to eat dinner, this issue was bothering her too much. Her phone sat nearby on a pillow, daring her to just call Nico and ask her everything, even if it would reveal herself as nothing short of a creepy stalker reading her diary.

" _There's still so much I haven't read. I could stop here. I should stop here."_

The red head closed her eyes in concentration.

" _What's wrong with me? This is wrong, Nozomi's right, I should respect her privacy."_

She took a deep breath. Her eyes remained closed.

" _I just…I just want to know…I want to help."_

She opened her eyes again looked down at the diary in her hands. This was the key. This was the answer and maybe the diary even held some recent entries, ones that spoke about her experiences and thoughts about Muse. Maybe some that spoke about her.

" _I know. I'll just read it little by little. That way, it'll be like Nico is telling me her secrets at her own pace."_

Maki snorted at her own thoughts. Even she knew she was being foolish at this point. But, for some reason it did make her feel better thinking that she would read only a few entries at a time. She opened the diary again and began to read a few entries. These didn't seem to be too important, it just spoke of her daily life and how much she loved idols. The only significant part of these entries were her announcing that she was going to start taking extensive notes about idols. Maki could only guess that this is when she started to create her massive collection of notebooks that she had given Maki to study.

*Bzzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzzzzt!*

Her phone vibrated loudly against the pillow. Maki felt her heart stop, immediately assuming the worst.

" _Nico can't have found out…"_

She answered and cautiously said "Hello!"

"Maki-chan?"

It was Hanayo, not Nico. Maki couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She mentally scolded herself for overreacting to just a simple phone call.

"Ah, hello!"

"I was just wondering…I got a couple tickets to see this idol group perform tomorrow so I thought you might be interested in going with me? Rin is coming too, so we can make this like a first year outing or something!" Hanayo sounded excited.

"O-oh, that sounds like fun."

"It will be!" Hanayo said, clearly confident with this statement. "Since you were looking at the posters in the clubroom this afternoon I thought you might want to see one of the groups in the posters perform! It'll be a magical experience! And they'll be selling concert exclusive merchandise which must be even more amazing than the posters we have already posted up!"

At this point, Hanayo had started to talk faster, "We could get ideas for selling our own merchandise, and maybe they'll even let us record our own videos of the concert. Maybe we'll get randomly selected to get VIP backstage passes and get to meet the group!"

Maki laughed, "I _highly_ doubt the randomly selected part."

Hanayo sniffed, "A girl can dream."

"Well, I'm in. What's the name of the group?"

"George."

" _George_? Like the name? Like the male name George?"

"Yes, haven't you heard of them? They're quite famous on the internet at least. Social media especially."

" _And I thought Muse was a weird name at first…"_

"Well, I'm still looking forward to it, regardless of the odd name. Thanks for inviting me."

"No problem! See you tomorrow!"

"Of course, good night!"

"Good night!"

Maki hung up. She felt good. Going to a concert was an excellent distraction, and it was something that Nico would have liked to do too. Going to one was also another way of learning more about the petite third year.

" _Plus it will give me a chance to see if it really is possible for Nico to reach her father by using her platform as an idol."_

This entire concert just screamed excellent opportunity. She would also get a chance to hang out with Hanayo and Rin, which was another plus side. She smiled and closed the diary. This was enough for today, tomorrow she would read more. She got up from her bed and grabbed her laptop from her desk.

Time to do some research.

First, she took her primary source of information, the diary. She flipped the pages quickly, skimming its contents without really processing the words in search of the specific word of 'daddy'. Finding that the diary did not yield any more information regarding the man, she decided to turn the strongest tool available to her at the moment.

The internet.

Her first search was the name 'Kotaro Yazawa', and of course, many pages showed up, probably listing every Kotaro Yazawa in existence. She clicked the first one, finding out that this Yazawa was rich and married with two successful sons about to take over his corporation following his retirement.

Definitely not the man she was looking for.

She continued scrolling through the people that actually showed up through her internet search. Of course, she know that this alone was the most basic, and unrefined way of looking for a person, but it was a start. She took out a pen and paper and began to write down the promising Kotaro's that had even the slightest chance of being Nico's father. Amongst the top contenders were a man who was reported missing in Tokyo, a man who had released a music demo but gained little popularity, and a man who was in jail. Maki reasoned that the man in jail was a strong contender because it would explain his absence in Nico's life. Nozomi had said that Nico's father loved her very much and never hurt her, so it would make sense if was actually forcibly taken away from her. Plus, the idea of having a family member in jail could easily be shameful, which would explain the odd secrecy that surrounded Nico's father.

" _Well, maybe I should visit the prison?"_

It didn't seem like such a bad idea. She jotted down her next few steps.

 _1 Speak to the man in prison. Ask him about his family._

 _2 Try to get a hold of the people who filed the missing person report in Tokyo_

 _3 Talk to musician who released the demo._

Maki nodded in satisfaction. This wasn't the most elaborate plan, but it was a good start. All of these situations would make sense as a cause for the disappearance. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. This was enough work for today. Crawling onto her bed again she turned off her bed lamp and stared at the ceiling in the dark. She still felt guilty, but this guilt was becoming _exhilarating_. It was somehow thrilling to be secretive, and sneaky. She groaned.

" _I must be going crazy."_

* * *

 **SO. George really is an idol group in the Love Live universe, they were another school idol group that were competing against Muse in the rankings. I don't think they weren't mentioned but you could see their name on the computer as Hanayo scrolls through the rankings.**

 **I always thought their name was hilarious and weird so I couldn't resist mentioning it here.**

 **Anyways, a BIG thank you to all of you who have read/followed/favorited this story!**

 **Please review! I love reading reviews!**

 **Again, thank you for your time, it really means a lot and I will try to update the next chapter soon.**

 **If you're interested in KotoUmi you can check out my other ongoing story called "Umi's Love Story"**

 **Thanks again!**


	3. Debut

**School has been really crazy so I apologize for the delay of this chapter! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Today I was doing some research on idols like I've been doing recently. And I've come across an interesting decision I will eventually have to make. Do I want to be a solo artist, or do I want to be in an idol unit? Both ideas seem fun! I feel like people will know my face better if I was a solo artist, but at the same time being in a group can attract more attention. Which one will be better? Which option will allow me to spread my smile across Japan? Idol groups are just as popular as solo idols, but I feel like the members of the group are hardly ever recognized individually. Even I have had some trouble memorizing the names of the all members in a unit! Although, the sound an idol group creates when they sing together is one of a kind. I'm not sure if a solo artist can really pull off that same sort of feeling. But a solo artist's voice can reach out easier than a member in a group's voice can…It's all so overwhelming! Oh well! We'll see what the idol industry has in store for the great Nico Nico Nii!_

The crowd's cheers were deafening as the auditorium was lit up from the countless colored glow sticks littered the audience floor, each stick being thrust up into the air in time with the beat of the song. It was no different than a Muse concert, except for the fact that it was another idol group performing. Hanayo had two glow sticks in each hand, all four sticks being green in color, in sync with the rest of the crowd passionately singing along to the music. Rin only had two, and she had chosen yellow sticks and was just yelling "Hey! Hey! Hey!" aimlessly shaking her glow sticks like they were maracas. Maki only had one and she had chosen red, and she was simply tapping the side of her leg with it along with the beat of the drums.

The concert was exciting, it was full of energy, and Maki couldn't help but notice the smiles on the audience members' faces. The adrenaline was contagious, it filled the room with excitement as the whole auditorium moved along with the song, responding to every action the singers executed. This reaction was every idol's dream, it was their purpose. It was Nico's purpose. Maki knew that their own concerts were always as exciting, she always noticed how the crowd cheered them on and sang along to their songs, but being in the audience was a whole other experience. As the idol group performing finished their last song, the entire group gave a bow together, causing the crowd to go wild all over again. Maki recognized the performer's heavy breathing and glowing faces as they waved good bye to the cheering fans. The red head could relate to the feeling, so taking a deep breath to push through her embarrassment, she lifted her glow stick into the air and cheered along, showing her support.

"George was amazing! I think all the singers sang beautifully! Their choreography was so complicated and intense! We should try using some stunts in our own choreography!"

"Stunts would be so much fun nya!"

"No. Honoka and Nico would probably just hurt themselves." Said Maki

Hanayo and Rin hummed in agreement, both knowing that this was exactly what would happen.

As they walked away from the concert hall Maki observed the many fans that were also leaving the building. Many held posters of the group name and wore shirts and other merchandise of the performers. Something caught her eye though, a poster with the name 'Naru Fujioka'. It seemed out of place in the sea of 'George' merchandise and fans.

"Hey Hanayo?"

"Yes Maki-chan?"

"Who's Naru Fujioka?"

"Naru…Fujioka?" Hanayo frowned, "That name sounds very familiar…I know it…I know I know it…mmmm…" The brunette closed her eyes in concentration.

"Maybe she's an idol nya?"

"Yes! An idol! She's in George! That's it!"

"In _George_? The idol group we just saw? Of course…it makes sense now…"

"Yes! Sorry, it's a bit hard to remember the names of all the members in a group." Said Hanayo scratching her sheepishly.

"It is? They're not all equally popular?" Maki thought back to the diary entry she had read that morning. "So it's difficult…to be recognized as an individual when you're in a group?"

"Well yes, I mean, idol groups are known for the _group_. Of course, that doesn't mean each member isn't important and that they don't have their own set of fans. It's just a little more difficult to get their name out there in comparison to being a solo artist who is literally known by their name."

"I see…what about Muse then?"

"Us?"

"Yes…do people know us by our names? I mean I admit I've gotten asked if I was a part of Muse and those who asked knew me by name but…" Maki paused, trying to find the best way to word what she wanted to say. "Does everyone else in Muse get recognized equally too? Do people know all of us by name?"

"Well I'm sure they do nya!" Rin jumped in front of Maki, causing the red head to gasp in surprise. "Everyone in Muse is too cute to not notice! Maybe we'll just emphasize our names a little more so people can learn them!"

"Mention…our names more?" Maki closed her eyes in concentration. "That…isn't a bad idea…but we…we can do more…"

"What do you have in mind Maki-chan?" asked Hanayo, slightly worried about Maki's serious expression.

The girl in question opened her eyes again and gave a small smile. "I think I know the perfect idea for our next concert."

* * *

"No…no…no…this isn't right…" Maki sat in front of her piano scribbling notes on some empty staff paper.

She stopped then plunged into a melody, her fingers dancing across the keys as she hummed a possible melody to go along with the accompanying chords. She closed her eyes to help her concentrate on the notes and imagined corresponding harmonies.

" _Is this key too high for Nico-chan?"_

She imagined the petite third year singing the melody and smiled. There was no need to worry, it was perfect. After writing out the notes on staff paper she paused at the blank lyric space of the paper. She needed lyrics.

" _I could ask Umi…but who knows how long it will take her…and will she really be able to write a song perfect for Nico? No…it's something only she can do…"_ Maki's eyes lit up _"Of course!"_

The young girl hopped off the piano bench and ran to her room pulling out the only thing of Nico's she owned. Her diary and idol notebooks. Flipping through the pages of the notebooks, she began to write phrases that Nico would put in a song, things that would make a person smile, make _her_ smile.

" _Well…one things for sure…it has to say her signature 'Nico Nico Nii'…"_ Maki's cheek flushed in embarrassment over the lyrics she had written. _"But it's perfect."_

Now it was back to the piano again. She was determined to finish writing everything before school on Monday, before the meeting with Muse that would most likely finalize all plans for their upcoming concert. She had to have everything done by then. She needed at least three, no four songs done by then. Taking the set of idol notebooks as inspiration, she threw herself into writing lyrics, forcing herself to swallow her pride as she did so. After completing the words to a song she would take it to the piano and fiddle with the notes as she came up with melodies. It was the perfect plan. All she needed to do was get the approval of the other girls and she would be all set.

She was going to get Nico's name out. She would make sure that people knew her name.

* * *

"Alright. Nobody leaves this room until we've come up with some epic concert plans." Nico crossed her arms, trying to look like an authority figure.

"I have to agree, I think we've procrastinated enough." Said Eli, also crossing her arms. However when the blond third year did it, she really did look like the authority figure she was.

"We need to do something different, something _amazing_ ," added Nico. "Everyone has high expectations of us."

Umi frowned. "I understand that every concert needs to meet a certain standard but…what's wrong with just singing a couple new songs? I don't think we're expected to do anything different."

"But different is FUN!" burst out Honoka, "It'll bring some excitement to the fans!"

"Fun isn't necessarily feasible…" mumbled Umi.

"So Maki-chan, Umi-chan, is it even possible for you two to write a few songs with enough time for us to practice them?"

"I'm not so-"

"Already done." Interrupted Maki, twirling a strand of her hair with her finger.

"EHHHHH?" Honoka jumped up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table. "Maki-chan…you're AMAZING."

Hanayo giggled. "So was this a part of that idea you mentioned on Saturday?"

"What idea?" asked Nozomi, watching Maki intently.

"I was a bit inspired the other day," began the first year "So I started working on some songs on my own to go along with this…this idea I had."

"Oh my gosh Maki…" Nico wiped a fake tear away "You've grown so much."

Maki rolled her eyes. "Anyways, don't say anything until I finish explaining…" she took a deep breath. This was it. "I'm suggesting that we all have songs within Muse…without all of Muse…I'm suggesting each one of us to debut a solo song, in addition to sub units within Muse. However, I'm thinking of doing this in the span of two concerts. The first one can be for the debut of each of our solo songs. Therefore, we can begin the concert singing a song together, have the each of us perform a solo song, and end it with a song together. That way the fans won't freak out and misunderstand that we're each going solo, and that we're still an idol group. Then we announce the next concert in which we will debut the sub units, which will consist of three units, each with three members. This concept will give our music more diversity as each subunit will have a considerably different sound than the others. So in the long run, it will make our concerts more diverse and exciting have the additional subunits perform along with our usual group songs."

The room was quiet. The eight girls took in the information, thinking of the idea of performing alone, without their friends. It was definitely different, but it was exciting.

"Wow Maki…did you think of that all on your own?" said Eli, being the first one to actually speak up after a long moment of silence.

"Yes…I thought it would different…something not done before, or at least not commonly done."

"You've really put a lot of thought into this haven't you?" said Nozomi smiling.

"Singing…by ourselves…" Umi's eyes were wide. "I couldn't possibly…"

"Of course you can Umi-chan! You would be wonderful!" Kotori chimed in.

"That's a bit scary…but exciting…" whispered Hanayo.

"You would do great Kayo-chin!"

"It would give everyone a chance to see Nico's cuteness!" added Nico looking smug.

" _Well, that is the overall point…"_ thought Maki, pleased that Nico seemed to approve of the idea.

"Singing by ourselves though? I love performing with all of you though…" said Honoka looking conflicted as she stared down at the table, "But this idea is great, it's _different_ , something no one would expect." She lifted her head, her eyes glistening with excitement, "But it would be so much fun to see how great everyone sings on their own! It'll give everyone a chance to shine and I just can't help feeling excited for all of us!"

"So…is it a yes?" asked Maki tentatively looking around at her eight friends who had begun to chat amongst themselves with excitement.

At once everyone stopped talking. Honoka grinned.

"On three, everyone say either yes or no. Ready? One…Two…"

Maki closed her eyes to calm her nerves.

"Yes!" chorused the eight girls.

Her heart lifted, her eyes opened, her purple eyes lighting up happily.

"Ok, let's get started!"

* * *

"So, how are we going to get nine songs done so quickly? I mean it'll be easy for us because we only need to learn one song each, but what about writing the music and lyrics for each song? That's really overwhelming for Maki-chan and Umi-chan. I don't think making the clothes should be a problem, because they don't need to really match one another, so I can just make something that would look best on each person. Although that does mean nine different designs…" Kotori trailed off, looking lost in thought.

"Well…actually, I've already started on the songs. Like I said, I was a bit inspired," answered Maki "I managed to finish the music for all nine songs, but was only able to finish the lyrics for four of them."

"Lyrics too? You're amazing Maki-chan!" Hanayo grabbed Maki's hand in excitement.

The red head first year blushed, "It wasn't too difficult…"

"So…" Nico leaned forward towards Maki, "Whose did you finish first?"

Maki's face burned from embarrassment. "I-It's not like I chose favorites or anything! I just made them in random order."

"So, whose do you have done?" asked Eli, "Or are they just songs that we can pick and choose to sing?"

Maki shook her head, "No, they're specific to each person according to which key would suite them best. The melodies and notes are all there, the only thing each person needs to do is arrange the speed and the style of their songs. The ones I have completely done with lyrics include your's, Rin's, Nico's, and my own."

"So we basically only need five more full song lyrics?"

"Yes, I think I should be able to get them done soon…it didn't take me too long to write them."

"What a liar Maki-chan," teased Nozomi, smiling mischievously at the younger girl, "I can see those dark circles under your eyes. Plus you were yawning a lot during lunch today." She winked at Maki who had already begun to blush furiously, "It's ok to admit you were working hard you know."

"N-no! It's not that! I just haven't slept much because…because my pillow was uncomfortable!"

"Nozomi's right, we need to acknowledge your hard work." said Umi smiling gently, "So thank you Maki, this whole plan is essentially your creation. We're all really thankful."

"But that doesn't mean we can just let her continue to do all the work," added Nico frowning, "I mean, it wouldn't be fair for all of us to just sit here doing nothing."

"Then why don't the remaining people write their own song lyrics?" suggested Hanayo "And those who already have their song lyrics done can help Kotori with the sewing."

"That…that could work." Said Maki thoughtfully.

"OH! And no one show anyone their songs! That way it can be a surprise for all of us!" Honoka squealed in delight, "It'll be like we're also performing for each other!"

"Performing for eachother?" Eli blinked then grinned, "Harasho!"

"Oooh! Does that mean that this the final plan nya?"

"Seems like it." Turning to Maki, Umi added, "Is that alright with you?"

Maki smiled. "It's perfect. Everyone still needs to work with me to finalize the finishing touches of songs and when they have their lyrics ready so I can arrange the songs accordingly."

"Hmmm, so Maki-chan is going to be the only person who will know all our songs." Nozomi's striking eyes looked thoughtful, "You're going to be like an all seeing goddess of music for this project won't you?"

"Don't be weird Nozomi." muttered Maki.

"Hehe. No promises!"

* * *

Maki groaned, throwing herself on her bed. It was three in the morning and she was exhausted. She was spending a lot of hours after school working with each muse member on their songs, and while she was happy to do so, it was tiring and left her very little time to do her homework. However, whenever Rin or Hanayo, whom knew exactly how much homework she had, voiced their concern Maki would simply wave them off lying to them by saying she had miraculously already finished the work. This left her in her current situation, staying up late to finish the work every night. She had taken to drinking coffee in the morning before school in order to keep herself awake. Her father had offered to start driving to school so Maki could sleep in a little without the worry of time it took to walk to school. Knowing that her father was already busy enough as it is, she turned down the offer and instead relied on caffeine to get her through the day. In the end she knew it would be worth the effort. Not just for Nico, but for the entire group. She couldn't help feel a surge of pride listening to each member sing their own songs and just hearing how _good_ they sounded. She couldn't wait for all of them to perform their songs.

" _I should probably start practicing my own song…"_ she felt her cheeks heat up, _"But it's so embarrassing….I still have time to change the lyrics but…according to the notebooks…I think these lyrics will do."_

She sat up on her bed. _"I should practice a bit now…but it's so late…I know, I'll get back to my original goal…to find Nico's father."_

She picked up her laptop that was placed beside her bed, and opened to review her findings. Checking her email, she was pleased to find a response from an email she had sent when she first created her list. She looked over her original to do list.

 _1 Speak to the man in prison. Ask him about his family._

 _2 Try to get a hold of the people who filed the missing person report in Tokyo_

 _3 Talk to musician who released the demo._

Maki took a pencil and crossed out the last item, speaking to the musician. Maki had emailed under pretense that she was a professional composer and was interested in writing a song for him. She asked him for his family background, saying that she preferred to work with someone she knew a little about. His response was that he actually lived out of the country for most of his life and had come to Japan again to try to make it as a musician.

" _I'll just email him a short melody to make up for his time."_ She quickly wrote a few lines of staff paper, took a picture of it, and sent it to the man. _"That should do it."_

" _Only two more to go…and I'm back to square one. At least the release of Nico's song might attract enough attention to bring her father back."_

Maki sighed and put her stuff away. This was enough for one day.

" _I hope you're having sweet dreams Nico-chan."_

* * *

"You really need to get some more sleep, you're beginning to look unhealthy even." Dr. Nishikino eyed his daughter from across the dinner table. "And believe me, I would know if you were looking unhealthy."

"It's just until Saturday, after that things will slow down, I promise." Maki twirled her fork distractedly, "Will you and Mama be there?"

"Of course, we wouldn't miss our daughter's first solo performance for the world." Maki's mother leaned over to squeeze her hand affectionately, "There will be another concert too won't there? Do you know which two girls will be in your subunit thing?"

"Yes I do, but I haven't told the rest of the girls yet."

Dr. Nishikino grinned. "Is Yazawa-san going to be in your little group?"

Maki blushed and picked at her food, "Yes she is."

"That's wonderful dear!" said Mrs. Nishikino clapping her hands together.

"It is?" Maki blinked in confusion.

"Did you finish her solo song? How does it sound?"

"It's finished…it sounds good, Nico-chan really like the lyrics I wrote for her so that's good." She frowned, "No offense, but why do you two care about Nico-chan so much?"

"We care about all your friends dear."

Dr. Nishikino nodded, "Plus she goes to our hospital so that makes her even more important to us."

"O-oh…ok….I guess that makes sense. Nico-chan's really excited about the performance too, I mean this idol thing is really more her thing than it is any of ours. She's an expert when it comes to anything idol like."

"Well then, its good thing you're helping her with your dream then! I'm proud of you." Maki's father smiled warmly, "I'm happy for all you girls! Just don't work _too_ hard ok? Otherwise you're going to have permanent tired eyes."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

* * *

" _Ok, I am NOT fine…I don't think I can do this."_ Maki paced in her dressing room, her heels clicking the floor with each step she made. _"I can't sing the song…alone…what was I THINKING?"_ The red head stopped in front of the mirror, slapping her cheeks lightly in an effort to calm herself.

It didn't work.

" _Deep breaths. Just keep taking one breath at a time."_

*Knock Knock*

"Maki-chan? Are you ready yet?"

"We're all waiting nya!"

Maki took another deep breath and forced herself to smile as she opened the door, revealing her fellow first years.

"I'm ready, let's go meet everyone else!"

They had all decided to perform the entire concert in their single solo outfit. It would make the transitions between songs easier, and it would serve as a mini introduction for what was to come.

"Uwaaaaa! You three look so cute!" Honoka jumped excitedly, "This is going to so amazing! I'm so excited I can hardly breathe!"

Honoka stood with Umi and Kotori, with the third years still absent from the group.

" _I can hardly breathe for an entirely different reason."_ Thought Maki and she forced herself to appear calm and collected.

"I'm so nervous…" whimpered Umi, who was tugging at her skirt length.

"I'm sure everyone will do great nya!"

"So, everyone knows the order right? No one has any last minute objections? We've already set the screen to display the names of each performer so if any of you want to change the order we have to do it now." Eli, who had just appeared and was followed Nozomi and Nico, spoke to the underclassmen seriously scanning their faces for any hint of doubt.

"No! Let's get this show started!" Nico beamed, it was impossible to miss the happiness that was radiating from her. "So, just to clarify one more time, the order is me, Nozomi, Kotori, Hanayo, Honoka, Rin, Eli, Umi, and Maki?"

"Yes!"

"Alright guys, let's go!" Honoka began running to her position for the opening song, closely followed by Rin.

"Good luck everyone!" said Kotori, pulling Umi along who was still muttering to herself about how nervous she was.

"Make was for the great Nico nico nii!"

* * *

"Are you ready Maki-chan?" Nozomi whispered in Maki's ear causing the red head to jump in surprise.

"Nozomi!"

"There you go, hopefully that little scare shook off some nerves." The third year smiled, her hair was slightly disheveled from her own performance. Since she was one of the first ones to perform, her breathing was even again and looked as energetic as ever. "Umi-chan's doing wonderful out there despite her nerves."

It was true, once Umi had stepped out onto the stage to perform, it was like she was an entirely different person. She was currently singing her song to which the crowd was eagerly thrusting their glow sticks in the air to the beat. It was interesting to see how the fans had somehow on their own decided on a single color for each girl that performed. At the moment, the entire auditorium was filled with deep blue glow sticks. Each of the girls had had the same experience, although with different colors. Nico's had been pink, which she was thrilled about, stating that it was 'the only color cute enough'.

"I wonder what color you'll be Maki."

"It doesn't really matter."

"I'm sure the color would be the one that suits you best."

The crowd suddenly roared as Umi finished her song and took her bow, and walked off the stage.

It was time.

Maki took a deep breath and felt Nozomi gently push her forward. Maki turned to the older girl and smiled gratefully. Walking to the center of the stage, she was greeted by a sea of red. The red was striking and the bright color made Maki's eyes widen at its beauty. Behind her, a large screen displayed her name 'Maki Nishikino'.

" _Nico, I hope this works."_

She smirked at the crowd and turned around that her back was facing them placing a hand on her hip, causing them to roar in excitement. On cue with the start of her song, she spun around, her face flushed with excitement and adrenaline, feeding off the energy of the crowd.

"Daring! You'll be wild!"

* * *

 **I apologize again for the delay! It's just been really crazy these days!**

 **And in case you haven't guessed already or haven't played the Love Live! mobile game, each of their solo songs are the songs used for the school idol diary events of each girl.**

 **Here is a list of each song:**

 **Nico -** **Mahoutsukai Hajimemashita!**

 **Nozomi - Junai Lens**

 **Hanayo - Kodoku na Heavan**

 **Kotori - Blueberry Train**

 **Honoka - Someday of my Life**

 **Rin -** **Koi No Shigunaru Rin rin rin**

 **Eli -** **Arifureta Kanashimi No Hate**

 **Umi - Yuuki no Reason**

 **Maki - Daring!**

 **Anyways, thanks again to all who have read/followed/favorited this story so far, it means so much!**

 **Please review!**

 **I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible!**


	4. Kotaro Yazawa

**So. I am REALLY sorry for the delay! Time really does fly! I'm just really busy with school right now, so I'll just keep updating as soon as I can. Hopefully it'll never be take as long as this last update did. I'm currently working on an engineering project with my university so it's been really hectic and busy. It felt good to write again, and I realized how much I really enjoy it. Again thank you to all those who have favorited/followed/read the story up until now! More notes at the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Kotaro Yazawa**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _I really miss Daddy. Today, I actually got a callback for this talent agency. That sounds like a good thing right? Well, it is because it means that at least someone thinks I have talent, but they're asking that I take dance lessons with a specialized dance instructor. I don't mind doing that, but I was looking at the prices for these instructors and they're so expensive! There's no way I can afford that! The talent agency is new and low on funds also, so they told me that I would have to pay for the lessons all on my own. I didn't even mention it to Mommy. I can't put that on her shoulders, she's working a lot as it is and I know she's struggling to pay the bills as it is. I won't let her feel guilty about not being able to pay for my lessons. I told the agency I couldn't do it. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do but I did it. I felt almost sick to my stomach and embarrassed as I watched them literally throw my file away and pick up another one. I'm assuming the other file they chose was a replacement candidate, probably someone who can afford it. I'm happy for them though, I'm sure it made them happy to be chosen, I know I was when I got the phone call. I wish Daddy were here, when he was around we never had any problems paying the bills and Mommy was home most of the time. Maybe if he were here I could have joined that agency and become a really popular idol. Well, I'm sure there will be other opportunities so no use in being depressed over this one._

"The three groups are as follows. Group One will be Eli, Nico and myself. Group Two will be Umi, Nozomi, and Rin. Last but not least, Group Three will be Honoka, Kotori, and Hanayo."

Maki stood at the foot of the table in the school clubroom. The seated Muse members had eagerly been awaiting the announcement of their assigned groups. Once Maki had finished talking, she nervously awaited their reactions. She knew that the groups seemed to be almost randomly assigned, especially Group Two, but she had big plans for all of them. She already had some melodies planned out and stuffed in her music folder, and with those written melodies she had been able to best choose the members most suited to sing them. It turned out that the members seem to fit into place perfectly when separated into three groups. Now that their general audience had been introduced to their voices individually, it would be easier to spot each person when they sing their parts in the songs. People had responded incredibly well to their solo pieces, so well that many idol agencies had contacted each of them trying to convince them to join their agency as a professional idol. Of course, all the girls had politely declined, and Maki couldn't help but smile as Nico wailed to the rest of the girls about how she dreamed for something like this to happen to her. It made all those sleepless nights worth the sacrifice. Now, it was on to the next step. After a moment of silence, the leader of Muse spoke.

"Kotori-chan! Hanayo-chan! Let's do our best!" Honoka grinned at fellow members in her group.

"Yes!"

"Eh? I'm separated from Kayo-chin?! I'll do my best too nya!"

"It'll be nice working with you two, Nozomi, Rin." Umi gave a small bow.

"Well then, I think the two of us can keep Nico in check don't you think?" Eli winked at Maki.

"Hey!" Nico pouted at the Eli and Nico who both shared a small laugh after Maki's statement. "So Maki, who are the centers of each group?"

Maki blinked in confusion, and blushed slightly. "Oh…I never really thought about it actually…"

"Just go with your instincts, Maki-chan." Kotori nodded at the red head, "You can't go wrong. After all, these subunits were all organized by you. Only you know who the centers should be."

"Since Muse changes its center with each song…maybe we can do the same with the subunits?" suggested Honoka, "I mean we had a problem deciding the center before and that was the perfect solution."

"That's true…I mean in all honesty, the songs were written in the same style as our other Muse songs, with everyone having a chance to sing on their own. Each group can make their choreography the same way too, so there isn't really a need for one person to be the center."

"But if you had to choose, who would they be?" persisted Nico.

"Well…maybe Eli, Umi, and Honoka?" Maki paused and added under her breath, "Nico too."

No one seemed to have heard her last two words.

"Me?" Honoka gasped. "Uwaaaaa! Thanks Maki-chan!"

"This isn't making anything official you know!"

"Still." Honoka wiped a fake tear from her eyes. "You think so highly of me."

"D-Don't overthink it."

"Umi-chan? You look awfully pale." Nozomi poked Umi's cheek playfully. "Earth to Umi-chan!"

"I can't do it." Umi's eye twitched nervously. "I didn't want to do it before…and I don't want to do it now."

"I _told_ you. This isn't anything official!"

"But Umi-chan! You sang by yourself! And you did great! You were so amazing!" encouraged Kotori, ignoring Maki completely.

"I think you could have been the center of our group too, Maki" added Eli, "After all, you are the one that knows the most about this whole project."

"That has nothing to do with it. Besides like Honoka suggested, we don't really need centers."

"Maybe not centers…but leaders at the very least." Hanayo piped up. "I mean while we don't have an official center, but Honoka is still our leader. That's something we all decided and what has worked for us."

"That's true…ehehe does that mean I won't be the leader of our group then?" asked Honoka.

Maki rolled her eyes. "Obviously you'd be the leader of your group. You're the leader of Muse. Besides, I think the same people I mentioned for the centers would work as the leaders. Of course, I don't really mind. I'll leave it up to each group to decide."

Eli clapped her hands. "Alright. Let's break into our teams! We have a few things we need to decide within out groups."

Maki raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What's that?"

"Well first of all, we need to decide our leaders like you suggested. Second…" Eli paused dramatically, "Our names!"

"OOH!" Hanayo eyes gained her fascinated, crazed fangirl look. "Our name is going to _crucial_! We can't go wrong! It needs to depict all members _and_ properly work with our style of music. When we chose Muse it worked out perfectly because of Nozomi…but Nozomi can't choose all our names." Hanayo looked at everyone seriously. "Think well! Don't mess this up! This is what everyone's going to know us by!"

"Uwaaa! That's so much pressure!" Rin jumped up from her seat and threw herself on Umi's lap. "I'll leave it to you, our leader nya!"

"Rin!" Umi turned to Nozomi pleadingly. "Nozomi…"

"We'll come up with it together" Nozomi game Umi a warm smile. "Now, shall we break then?"

"Alright." Maki reached into her pocket to pull out three small mp3 players. "I have three songs for each group. I have these labeled according to group so while we're at it, maybe we can start writing lyrics to these too. I have the music created already, all we need to do is add the voices."

Eli clapped her hands again. "Alright. Break!"

* * *

"Ughhh! Why is coming up with a name so hard!" Nico lay with her back to the floor staring at the ceiling of their clubroom.

Each group had left for a different part of the school campus. Group One, Maki's group, had stayed in clubroom while Group Two, Rin's group, had left for the student council room since Nozomi had access to it. The last group, Honoka's group, had left for their usual practice spot on the roof.

"That's because you keep coming up with dumb names."

"I do not! 'Nico nii' is a perfect name!"

Eli sighed. "For the last time Nico, we are _not_ naming our group with anything that has to do with 'Nico nii'."

Nico pouted. "Well let's think. How would we describe ourselves as a trio?"

"A first year and two third years" grumbled Maki.

"I would say two mature people and one child," added Eli.

"NO. That's wrong." Nico sat up abruptly. "We all have that cool type beauty!"

Maki raised her eyebrow incredulously. "I don't really buy that."

Eli thought for a moment. "I can see where you're going with that…I mean those 'cool' types always have an aura of maturity about them right?"

"Yes! Exactly! We all have that quality!"

Maki rolled her eyes. _"I love you Nico, but you really aren't the cool type."_

"I think Maki and I might have it at the very least…" said Eli thoughtfully. "But how does that help us in deciding a name?"

"Well we just a need a name that depicts cool, mature, and elegant people."

"Hmmm…like a lady?" asked Maki, not wanting insult Nico by pointing that the petite third year was neither one of those qualities.

"Yes a lady! To make it sound more interesting, let's try looking up how to say 'lady' in other languages! Maybe one of them will work!"

"Sure, I guess it's worth a shot." Eli walked over to the computer in the clubroom. After a few moments of typing and searching she turned to the other two girls. "Ready?"

"Of course," replied Maki looking as bored as ever.

"Alright. So in Spanish we have 'dama'. At least according to the internet." Eli looked at them expectantly. "Well?"

"That's not…too bad I guess." Nico closed her eyes in concentration. "On second thought…next!"

"French is similar, its 'dame'."

"Nope!"

"'Signora' in Italian."

Maki frowned. "That sounds too much like a formality."

"They probably are formalities. I don't know for sure though, since I don't speak any of those languages."

"Just choose a random language. I don't know, maybe Arabic?"

"Ok." Eli typed away on the computer. "Oh, well this is interesting."

"What is it?" Nico stood up to stand next to Eli at the computer.

The raven haired third year's eyes widened. "Eli, click that webpage."

"The baby names one?"

"Yeah."

Nico leaned in towards the screen. "So, apparently, a baby name is 'Bibi' and the meaning in Arabic is 'lady'…"

"Bibi?" Maki blinked. "That sounds…really cute actually."

"So it means lady, which we're trying to add in the name…and it's cute?" Eli smiled. "It's actually quite perfect."

"It really is…I actually really like it…" Maki turned to Nico. "What do you think Nico-chan?"

Nico closed her eyes again to think. After a few moments she opened them and gave them a grin and a thumbs up. "It's perfect!"

"So…Bibi it is?" Maki asked.

"Yes…but let's have a twist! Let's capitalize both B's for fun!"

"Alright…so BiBi it is!" Eli clapped her hands to signal their final decision.

 **(Author's Note: I literally just googled "meaning of Bibi" and found that it meant lady? I do not speak the language at all, so if this is inaccurate, blame Google.)**

* * *

" _BiBi, which consists of Nico, Eli and myself. Lily White, which consists of Umi, Rin and Nozomi. Printemps, which consists of Honoka, Hanayo, and Kotori."_ Maki thought about the day's decisions as she walked away from the school building.

She had declined Rin and Hanayo's invite to eat with them because she had other, more important things to do. Rather than head home, she headed in another direction for her next item of business. She needed a way to talk to the man in prison. He had a lot of potential to be Nico's father, because it would explain his lack of presence in her life and explain why "spreading her smile across Japan" would be a good way to reach him although Maki wasn't exactly sure how up-to-date people were in prison. Arriving at the police station, she hoped it wouldn't be too much trouble to speak to this Kotaro Yazawa. If it was just a matter of filling out some simple request forms, she could handle it, if not, she would have to try to find another way. The fact that she was in no way related to the man in question would make it even more difficult to convince the police to let her have contact with him. She also had another Kotaro Yazawa that she investigating that would involve some sort of police involvement. This one was the one the list that was reported missing. If she could find out who filed the missing person report, then she could see if he was Nico's father. If he was, it would have been Nico's mother who reported him missing, or at least another relative of Nico's. Maki finally arrived at the police station and entered briskly, trying to look as professional and mature as possible. After taking a quick glance at her surroundings, she approached the receptionist who was typing away furiously at the computer, her nail polish reflecting the ceiling lights.

"Good evening, I was wondering where who I could speak to about getting in contact with one of the inmates at the prison?"

The receptionist looked up and scanned Maki's appearance, looking skeptical at her school uniform.

"Do you any direct relations to the inmate in question? Are you on their list of contacts?"

Maki felt her throat tighten. "I don't. I just wish to speak with him."

"Are you a law student or something? Psychology student?"

"…I am not. I just want to ask him a few questions."

"Well if that's the case you can file a request to speak to him. However it could take few weeks for that to process and to get to him. After that, we need to process his approval, if he approves, and notify you to schedule an appointment. In all, it would take at least a month. And, "the receptionist indicated Maki's school uniform, "if you are a minor, you would need your parents' approval."

Maki inwardly groaned. _"This really isn't looking good. I doubt my parents would let me speak to a random guy in prison."_

"Nishikino-san! Hey! What are you doing here?!"

Maki turned in surprise and couldn't help herself. She gaped at the person calling her name. Standing outside an office door was none other than Tsubasa Kira, the leader of the popular school idol group A-RISE. She was wearing her school uniform and waving at Maki. After a moment of watching Maki's face stay in shock she walked over to wear Maki was standing in front of the receptionist.

"Hello! How are you? What are you doing here Nishikino-san?"

"You know her Tsubasa-chan?" the receptionist smiled affectionately at the leader of A-RISE.

"Yes, Nishikino-san is in a school idol group called Muse." Tsubasa smiled at Maki, "Come with me! I'm hanging out in my dad's office right now while he's talking to prison warden."

"You dad's…office?" Maki blinked in confusion. "Your dad works here?"

"Yeah, I come visit him to bring him food sometimes when he has to work late. Duty calls you know."

"Right…what exactly does your dad do here?"

Tsuabasa grinned and winked. "That's not important. But if you must know, he's the chief of police." She opened to the door to the office she was previously standing by and gestured to Maki to take a seat. Tsubasa took the seat of the chief of police, the most important man in the station.

"The _chief_?"

"Yeah, that's why he works such long hours."

"I see…" Maki was starting to feel a little nervous. Clearly, Tsubasa was full of surprises.

"You came at a perfect time Nishikino-san" Maki swore she saw a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I did? Oh and you can call me Maki…"

"Yes Maki, you did. I was actually going to go sneak into your school to talk to a member of Muse about this. It is something very important."

"Well I'm probably not the best person to talk to. If it's anything about our groups then you should talk to Honoka about that, or even Eli."

Tsubasa's cheeks reddened slightly and she shook her head. "No, it can't be Honoka. Anyone but Honoka."

Maki raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because it's not about our groups…it's about Honoka."

The red head first year frowned. "Did you two get into some sort of fight or something? I really can't see her being really angry about something though. She's really not that type."

"No no no…it's just." Tsubasa paused. "I can't tell you unless you agree to help me."

"Well I can't do that unless I know exactly what you want."

The two idols stared at each other before Tsubasa finally spoke. "What exactly are you doing here anyways, Maki?"

Maki hesitated. "Well…I just wanted to speak to a prisoner about something…"

"But that's no reason to come over her…wouldn't you just go straight to the prison?"

"That's the thing…I don't know the guy…"

"At all?"

"Nope."

Tsubasa blinked in confusion. "Then why do you want to speak to him?"

"I'm just doing a bit of research, that's all."

The green eyed girl thought for a moment. "Oh, well then you would probably need some sort of permit right?"

"Yes, that's what the receptionist was telling me earlier. And I need my parent's permission…which I don't think I will be able to get…besides, I don't really want to get them involved in this."

Tsubasa took a deep a breath. "Ok, I have a deal for you."

"Huh?"

"I'll get my dad to waver the permits and let you speak the inmate. We won't ask you what you're up to either, it seems like it's a private matter and I know you enough to know that you probably don't have any ill intentions."

Maki gasped and stood up excitedly, "You would do that?"

"Oh of course." The brown haired girl grinned. "If you agree to help me."

" _Well, it can't be too bad can it?"_ Maki closed her eyes for a moment. "Ok, I'll help."

* * *

"Oh that melody sounds nice, play it again one more time, please." Tsubasa leaned over Maki who was seated at the piano playing a new melody she had written.

Maki flushed. "O-ok…"

Before she could begin, Tsubasa stopped her by placing her hand over Maki's. "On second thought, perhaps we should try to have someone singing it? Maybe Honoka perhaps?"

"Honoka left." snapped Nico, glaring at Tsubasa.

" _What's gotten her so angry?"_ Maki watched Nico's hostility curiously. _"I thought she was a big fan of A-RISE. Shouldn't she be happy Tsubasa's here?_

"She left?" Tsubasa turned to the piano player. "Well, you know, I actually need to get going too. I'll talk to later and maybe stop by tomorrow?"

"Ok."

The leader of A-RISE stood up and waved good bye as she walked out of the music room. After a few moment of silence, Nico walked over and took Tsubasa's place on the piano bench.

"What was that all about?"

Maki sighed. "I _told_ you guys. Tsubasa is in the middle of a writer's block and needs some inspiration to write a new song."

"You two seem really close though. I mean, this is like her third day in a row coming here."

"Do we? I'm just helping her out that's all."

"She could at least acknowledge the rest of our groups' presence. The only person she really talks to is you, and maybe Honoka."

"Honoka? That's good then."

"How is that good?"

Maki blushed and looked away. "I don't know."

"Hehehe." The two girls looked up to see Nozomi leaning against the wall, presumably having watched the entire exchange. "I must say though, you two have been acting awfully suspicious."

"We have not!" the piano player insisted desperately, knowing that once Nozomi suspected something, it would be difficult to convince her otherwise. Continuing, Nozomi smiled mischievously. "It's almost as if Tsubasa was trying to…well I don't know…get close to someone perhaps?"

Maki's eyes widened. "N-no…not at all, I'm just helping her out that's all."

Nico looked at Maki curiously, "Are you interested in her, Maki?"

"No!"

Nozomi played with her own hair thoughtfully. "It's not Maki's interest that's important here though. It's Tsubasa's interest that really matters.

"So you're saying Maki doesn't have a say in this?" Nico turned to her fellow third year. "I mean if Maki doesn't like Tsubasa, then she should just tell her upfront and get it over with."

Nozomi winked at Maki who looked as if she wanted to run out of the room at any moment. "Well, it's like I said. It has nothing to do with any feelings of Maki. It's all about _Tsubasa_ and her _interest_." Nozomi smiled knowingly at Maki. "Right Maki-chan?"

" _How does Nozomi know everything?"_ Maki cleared her throat. "Right..."

"Maki-chaaaaaan!" The door slammed open and the leader of Muse entered. "I was wondering if I could go over some of my lyrics with you to make sure it makes sense with the melodies you have written." Honoka skipped towards Maki excitedly.

"Wait…what? I thought you left?"

"Eeeeh? Well, I guess I did leave the room, but I just went to roof because I was working on the song. Besides, you were busy with Tsubasa so I didn't want to interrupt you. I just saw her leave the school so I came down to see if you were still here."

Maki rubbed her forehead looking stressed. "Next time Honoka, feel free to stay with Tsubasa and me. I'm sure she would love to hear your opinions. You do have a lot in common after all."

"Eeeh? Me? I wouldn't want to intrude. I mean, she's here for your help not mine."

"Believe me, I'm sure she would love to have you there."

Honoka looked doubtful, but smiled eagerly either way. "Alright! Maybe next time!"

"Now, let's go over your song. This is for Printemps right?"

"Yes!"

"Alright let's hear it!"

* * *

Maki sighed as she tiredly walked away from her school. It had been a long day, and the third day since Tsubasa started dropping by. She wondered how long this was going to last, she had agreed to help the girl, but she didn't know for _how long_. Regardless though, it was worth it. With a simple call to her father Tsubasa had managed to get Maki access to the inmate she wished to speak to and the contact information of the family who had filed a missing report on the other "Kotaro Yazawa" she had on her investigation list. After calling the family in question, Maki was able to conclude that this Kotaro was in no way related to Nico. It was a good thing for Maki, because if the police were never able to find this man there was no way that she would be able to. Today, she was going to visit the prison to speak to the Kotaro Yazawa that was an inmate there. All Maki had to do was help Tsubasa get closer to Honoka. Apparently, Tsubasa had been trying to become friends with the orange haired girl with the hopes of eventually asking her out. At first, Maki was skeptical about her ability to actually help, but Tsubasa came up with the plan of stopping by after school under the pretense of working on a song with Maki. She felt her phone vibrate from within the pocket of her school blazer. Pulling it out, she looked at the caller id displaying _Tsubasa Kira_.

"Hello?"

"Hi Maki! How do you think today went?"

"I don't know, the same as it's been these past couple of days I guess."

"Hmmm…well, I was able to talk to Honoka a lot today, too bad she left, otherwise I would have asked her to hang out afterwards."

"About that…she actually didn't leave. She just went to another part of the school to give us privacy."

"What? But that completely defeats the purpose of all this!"

"I know. So I kind of tried to hint at her that you wanted to spend time with her."

"Oh…you didn't make it obvious though, right?"

"I at least tried not to. By the way, I'm pretty sure Nozomi figured you out."

"What? How? Is she capable of telling Honoka?"

"Nozomi just knows things sometimes, and I don't think so. Why don't you just ask Honoka out and get it over with?"

"I can't do that! Honoka and I have to get to know each other first! Otherwise it's like a total stranger is asking her out!"

Maki sighed. "But you're not a total stranger, you're the leader of the popular idol group A-RISE."

"Which is exactly why I need her to see me as a friend first! I don't want her to say yes, if she does say yes, because I'm a well-known school idol. I want her to say yes because she genuinely wants to be with me."

"Well if anything, you should make it more obvious that you want to hang out with her, not me. Apparently it looks like you're interested in me, not Honoka."

"Did Nozomi tell you that?"

"No, Nico did."

"Hmmm…that might be a good thing. It could make her jealous!"

"This isn't some sort of romance movie. And Honoka probably wouldn't be jealous, she would just cheer you on."

Tsubasa sighed. "I love that attitude of hers."

"Clearly." Maki approached the prison. "You spoke to your father right? All I have to do is show up at the prison today and they'll let me in?"

"Yeah don't worry about it. He even showed them a picture of you so that they'll recognize you easier. All you have to do is walk in and they'll help you out."

"Ok, thanks. I'm just arriving now so I'll talk to you later."

"Sure! Thanks for everything! Can you just send me Honoka's phone number? I want to start texting her but I didn't get a chance to ask her for her number today."

"Will do."

"Ok, bye!"

" _This is the last Kotaro Yazawa on my list. If this isn't him, then I'll have to start taking a different approach."_

Maki entered the prison and was immediately greeted by a security guard.

"Nishikino-san?"

"Y-yes, that's me."

"We've been expecting you, I'll let them to bring Yazawa-san to the visiting room."

"Thank you. Can you show me where that is exactly?"

"Of course, right this way."

Maki followed the guard to a room with tables and seats and several police officers scattered around the room. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Please sit here and Yazawa-san will be here momentarily."

The first year took a seat and began to rehearse her questions inside her head. At this point, she was beyond nervous. She could feel the palms of her hands getting sweaty and her heart beat faster. After a few moments she saw a man enter the room escorted by two guards. He had long black hair with bangs that covered his eyes. His skin was pale and he looked around the same age of her own father. So far, he fit the description of Nico's father.

"Nishikino-san? I don't believe we've met before." The man took a seat across from her and brushed his hair out of his face to reveal striking blue eyes. Nothing like Nico's and her siblings' ruby eyes, but those matched her mother's eyes.

"We haven't. I just wanted to ask you a few questions…if that's alright with you." Maki was thankful she sounded a lot more composed than she felt.

"Ok, ask away. I don't really have anything to hide at this point."

The red head took a deep breath. "Do you have any family? A wife? Kids?"

"Yes I do, well an ex-wife at least. I have four kids."

" _Four? Nico, Cocoro, Cocoa, and Cotaro."_ Thought Maki.

"How old are they?"

"Different ages. The youngest is probably around four right now."

"And the oldest?"

"Maybe just starting college. I'm not sure."

" _That's about Cotaro's and Nico's age."_

"Do they have any hobbies that would, I don't know, stand out?"

"Not that I know of."

"What are their names?"

Kotaro Yazawa crossed his arms and eyed Maki suspiciously. "I don't know if I feel comfortable telling you that. Anything about myself I don't mind. But these are my kids. They have their own sense of privacy and I don't know if they necessarily want some random school idol knowing their father is in prison."

Maki's eyes widened. "How do you know about me? About how I'm a school idol?"

"We are able to watch TV here, and I've seen your group on the news before."

"Were you able recognize…anyone else in my group?"

"No, I wasn't."

" _Maybe he just didn't recognize Nico?"_

"I know you don't want to tell me the name of your children, but can you tell me their genders?"

"Sure, three girls and one boys."

Maki took a sharp breath. This was getting too close.

"Is the boy the youngest or the oldest? Or in between?"

The man looked at Maki directly in the eyes and answered. "The oldest."

* * *

 **Ah, so I realized that the name of the chapter really implied that Maki would actually be finding Nico's father but...no. Sorry!**

 **Anyways, thank you for being patient with me and as always please review! I really do love reading your reviews, it encourages me to keep writing and definitely puts a smile on my face.**

 **I will update as soon as I can, and I promise, I will not abandon this story! (Thank you to the reviewer that left that sweet review about not abandoning the story. I must admit, seeing it really made my day and pushed me to update this sooner...even if it did end up taking me a long time to update anyways)**

 **Thank you!**


	5. Opportunity

**WOW. So, I know it's been a long time, but here's Chapter 5! I had the absolute WORST writer's block. I literally rewrote this chapter at least 7 times and switched around so much of this final product, but it's done and up so hopefully it'll be easier and faster to write the next chapter. I should be studying for a midterm (that I am in no way ready for) but I FINALLY got out of this awful writer's block and just had to finish off the chapter. I'll have more comments at the end, so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Opportunity

 _Dear Diary,_

 _I saw that girl that was in the news around the time you went away. The heiress. I can't seem to remember her name at the moment, but I can say that she's even prettier than the photos show. Is it wrong that instead of feeling sorry for her, all I could think of it what a great idol she would make? I know what happened to her must be traumatizing and awful, but I literally could not stop imagining her on stage singing. I bet she has a lovely voice since she plays the piano. I know playing the piano has nothing to do with singing, but she looks like she has a pretty voice. If she were to dress up like a mermaid she'd be like Princess Ariel! That could be her stage name…Ariel! I love it! I wish I could be her manager, or better yet, be in an idol unit with her! Oh well, we all know that's never going to happen. Mommy was with me when I saw her. She got this weird look on her face when I told her my little ideas about the heiress. Maybe she's jealous that she's rich. I don't blame her. I mean I know how tired Mommy is from working all the time. That's why, the first thing I do when I become a famous idol is force Mommy to quit her jobs and go on a vacation! I can't wait!_

* * *

"Your son is your oldest child?" Maki said slowly.

"Yes. He is my first born." Kotaro leaned back and crossed his arms. "Why do you want to know? Do you go to school with him or something?"

The red head shook her head, lifting a hand to rub her forehead. "No, I don't know your son. I just thought were someone else's father."

Maki sighed and continued. "I'm back to square one now." She stood up. "Thank you for meeting with me. I thought you were the man I was looking for, but the ages of your children don't match the description." She extended her arm out to shake his hand. "Thank you for your time."

Kotaro took her hand and shook it firmly. "No problem. Believe me, I had nothing else to do."

* * *

"YESS! It's done! My work of art is complete!" Nico jumped up from her seat and held out a piece of paper in front of her, letting an array of pink colored pencils roll off the table where she was seated. Nico and Maki were alone in the club room with Nico drawing on one side of the table while Maki sat thinking about Kotaro Yazawa. She had nothing in front of her as she rested her chin into her palm and leaned against the table staring at the shelves that were covered in all types of idol merchandise behind the dark haired girl.

Maki glanced at the pink pencils now littering the floor, feeling one roll into her foot. " _This work of art better not involve me._ "

"It's our costumes for BiBi!"

The first year inwardly groaned. _"Of course."_

"We really didn't have to design anything. Kotori said she'd be fine designing ours since Umi, Nozomi, and Rin said they're doing their own."

"But why rely on Kotori's designs when we can wear THIS!" Nico triumphantly thrust the paper towards Maki. A proud smirk played on her lips as she watched Maki take the paper into her hands.

Maki grimaced immediately upon seeing the design. It was covered in frills and ribbons. The only colors on the costume were variations of pinks, with an occasional dab of white. She had no doubt that Nico had used every single pink colored pencil she could find.

"Nico-chan!" Maki gave an exasperated sigh. "I am not wearing that…that…that pink monstrosity!"

"Buy why?! It's SO cute! It's perfect!" Nico twirled her pink colored pencil in hand. "It took me two hours to come up with you know!"

Maki scoffed. "Two hours? That's nothing."

"Well, if you think you're such an expert on idol wear, why don't you design something?!" Nico's voice rose in pitch with her frustration.

A cool voice responded, "Because she's already done so much with the writing the songs. We don't want to put even more strain on Maki."

Maki and Nico turned to Eli who had just walked in on their argument.

"Perfect timing, Eli." A smirk on her lips, Maki took Nico's drawing in her hands and raised it up to show Eli. "What do you think of Nico's design for our outfits?"

The reaction was immediate. A look of horror graced Eli's face. She seemed to struggle on what to say when Nico spoke first.

"Fine, fine. I get it. You guys are just not cute enough."

Eli's look of horror quickly changed to one of annoyance.

"No. That outfit is just out of control."

"Alright, alright. I'll tone it down. I should have known only the great Nico Nico Nii could pull off something this cute."

Eli just shook her head and shrugged and Maki who rolled her eyes. It was going to take a while to convince Nico that they were _not_ going to wear the costume drawn.

* * *

Maki sighed as she swirled her pen across a formerly blank paper. Since Eli and Maki had both vehemently refused to wear what Nico had drawn up, she had challenged each of them to design something of their own. The red head felt guilty and worried that she had offended the petite third year through her rejection, but thankfully Nico only seemed mildly irritated. However, it still left her in the same situation, sitting at her desk at home doodling aimlessly on a piece of paper. Music she can do, singing she can do, even dancing she could do, but designing idol outfits? Not really.

"Ugh!" Maki left her desk to throw herself on her bed, facing her ceiling.

" _Maybe I'll just ask Kotori to make us something after all…I have more important things to do right now."_

She closed her eyes in concentration. She had investigated every Kotaro that could ever have a chance of being related to Nico, and neither one of them had been the man she was looking for.

" _Maybe it's time to actually ask Nico-chan about what happened to him…that may lead to something."_

For now, she would rely on the publicity Muse was getting to reach out to Nico's father. They were becoming even more talked about than A-RISE, especially with the upcoming reveal of their split idol units. Even their singles were being downloaded at an alarming rate, and to her great surprise, her own single 'Daring!' had at some point reached the number one song in Japan. The rest of the singles had also made the top charts, each of them reaching popularity at an almost equal rate, with little differences in range. She smiled.

" _Even if it amounts to nothing. She's happy. She's glowing, she's shining. She's becoming the star she was always meant to be."_

Her dead end was eating at her conscience. It wasn't like there was any time limit for anything that she was doing, but it felt like there was. She could only pursue this task for so long before at least one member of Muse figured out what she was doing. By that one member, she meant the only one that could figure out a mystery just by sniffing the air.

Nozomi.

The dark haired third year had been eyeing Maki these past two days as she mulled over possible ways to continue her search. Maki had a strong, sneaking suspicion that Nozomi would not approve of her meddling into the Yazawa affairs.

But was it really meddling? The amethyst eyed first year still could not decide. True, she did harbor some guilt for invading Nico's privacy through the diary, but _technically_ Nico gave her the diary didn't she? She did find the diary of in her closet but with all the notebooks Nico had handed her, maybe the third year had intended for it to end up in her possession.

" _How do I casually bring up the man that's been missing from her life for five years?"_

Maki cursed her poor social skills as she continued furrowing her brows at the ceiling.

* * *

"Maki? Are you alright?" Dr. Nishikino watched Maki move around the food on her plate aimlessly.

"I'm fine." She didn't look up but instead frowned at her food in concentration. "I'm just thinking that's all."

"Are you sure dear?" Mrs. Nishikino glanced at her husband worriedly. "You've been acting strange these past few days…is something bothering you? You can talk to us about anything…you know that…"

"Do you need to start seeing a therapist again?"

Maki looked up sharply, her eyes widening in horror. "No! I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine…you know I hated seeing that woman…"

Dr. Nishikino sighed. "But the visits helped didn't it?"

The first year glared at her father. "No. It didn't. I didn't start getting better until I joined Muse."

"Did you tell them about it? About what happened to you…?" Maki's father's voice gradually faded into a whisper.

Maki looked away in response. "No. I never thought it was necessary."

"Not even…Nico?" asked her mother quietly.

The red head shook her head. "I don't like to talk about it. Nozomi knows though…she remembers your prayer at the shrine the day it happened."

"She hasn't told the others?"

"No…she wouldn't if it made me uncomfortable…which it does."

"That is probably for the best." Dr. Nishikino shared a knowing look with his wife.

"Of course…we're sorry we brought it up…it's just you seem bothered lately…it doesn't look like you've been getting enough sleep either…I thought perhaps you were having nightmares about what happened or somethi-"

"I haven't." interrupted Maki. "I try not to think about it."

"Ok, just let us know if we can ever help you with anything alright?"

"I will." responded Maki absently. She felt an added weight on her shoulders as she took in her parents' concerns. Now they were worried. When they worried, they were more attentive, alert. When they were worried, they brought up _that._ Maki sighed in frustration. First Nozomi, and now her parents.

" _I need to get my act together. Why am I even stressed about this? It's not like I'm trying to meet anyone's expectations. No one even knows what I'm doing!"_

Instead of voicing her thoughts, Maki smiled at her parents reassuringly, hoping that they would forget about her obvious stress. Mrs. Nishikino smiled back and reached over to give her hand a quick squeeze while her father seemed lost in thought.

"Just let us know ok? We can't help you if you leave us in the dark."

The purple eyed girl nodded, although she doubted her parents would help her in her fruitless attempt to find her crush's father.

* * *

"It's-it's an emergency! An emergency!" Hanayo's hand shook as she stared at her phone in awe. She looked up briefly at Maki and Rin who sat bewildered at her sudden outburst. "I need to get to a computer now!"

Before Rin or Maki could say anything, the normally quiet girl raced of the classroom, clutching her phone for dear life. Their last class was about to start and they had been sitting together by Maki's desk. Hanayo had briefly checked her phone before her sudden outburst, leaving Maki and Rin to look at each other in confusion.

"K-Kayochin! Wait for Rin!" Rin jumped up from her seat to follow her best friend with Maki stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Relax. She's probably just obsessing over something that's going on in the idol industry. Nothing to worry about."

"But what if it affects Muse nya?"

Maki let go of the girl's arm. "Good point."

"I'll meet you in the club room nya!"

"W-wait! Class is going to start soon! Can't it wait until after? We only have about an hour left until school is over!"

"Tell the teacher there was an emergency meeting!" called Rin over her shoulder as she headed off to meet Hanayo.

"Like she'll excuse that!" responded Maki from the doorway where she stood watching Rin leave. She smiled despite herself and turned to walk back inside. As she turned she was surprised to see Nico running towards her in desperation. The red head froze. She had never seen Nico run so quickly. To be honest, she didn't think Nico could ever run that fast.

" _What does Nico want?"_

Just as Maki was about to ask her what was wrong, Nico rushed past her, ignoring her completely. She watched her turn the same direction Rin had just moments before. Then realization hit her. The clubroom. The emergency had to be related to the idol industry. She shook her head, but smiled again. There really was no stopping those two when it came to idols. Both Hanayo and Nico knew almost everything that was happening with idols and were passionate about minor details and all kinds of events.

" _Looks like I'll have to take extra detailed notes for those two. Hopefully Eli or Nozomi does the same for Nico."_

* * *

Once class had ended and school let out, Maki made her way over to clubroom, hoping at least one person would be there to fill her in on what had happened. She brought both Rin's and Hanayo's bags along with her since they had forgotten them when they rushed out of the classroom. As she reached the clubroom she saw Eli and Nozomi approaching as well, with Nozomi carrying Nico's bag as well. Eli laughed when she saw Maki's full arms.

"They ran out on you too?"

"Obviously."

They all laughed together, Nozomi reaching towards the door to open it.

"Ready to find out what the excitement was all about?"

Before the other two could answer the door opened to reveal an excited Rin.

"There you are nya! I was about to go looking for all of you! What took you so long?"

"Class is what took so long" said Eli sternly, "You all need to go to your teachers to pick up any makeup work they might assign."

Rin visibly cringed. After a moment she brightened up and grinned. "But you have to hear what's going on. It's HUGE nya!" She turned to enter the room again. "Well, at least that's what Kayochin and Nico-chan are saying."

She skipped back into the room, closely followed by Eli, Nozomi, and Maki. Maki gaped at the sight inside. To her immense surprise, Tsubasa was in the clubroom also excitedly chatting about whatever was going on with Honoka who looked like she could barely contain her excitement as well. It seemed as though she and student council members were the last to arrive as even Kotori and Umi were in the corner speaking quietly to each other. The serious second year looked slightly pale and nervous, which was an obvious sign that she was dreading some sort of performance or event. As usual, Kotori was there to attempt to cheer her up and ease her worries, although Maki couldn't help but notice that this time Kotori didn't seem so sure herself, as her hands were anxiously twisting and squeezing a piece of fabric that vaguely resembled the one of the materials used for their last costumes. She looked over to see Nico and Hanayo huddled by the computer together with their eyes glued to the screen, seemingly reading whatever it was they were reading, over and over again. Rin just continued skipping around and poking everyone in the room and exclaiming how excited she was, even though at this point Maki doubted even _she_ knew what was happening. Whatever it was, it definitely involved the entire group. And it definitely was a pretty big deal. She opened to her mouth to ask, but somehow couldn't find the words to. There were so many questions.

" _Why is Tsubasa here? What's Umi freaking out about now? What could you possibly read over so many times? What is going on?!"_

Maki's head screamed out the questions she couldn't bring herself to ask. She simply stood dumbfounded at the scene. Apparently, her third year companions seemed to be in the same situation as her as they slowly took in the scene that unfolded before them. Finally, after a few moments, Eli cleared her throat.

"So. Anyone want to tell us what's going on?"

Nico and Hanayo turned instantly, recognized the firm, demanding tone of the student council president. However, it seemed neither one of them were able to maintain their composure long enough to even _start_ explaining. Instead of Nico and Hanayo answering, Tsubasa quickly chimed in.

"Professional idols are scouting school idols to open up their concerts for them all over Japan. The application process is only open for one day and it's today. They knew they would get an overwhelming amount of applications to open for them, so they announced it last minute and are extending the offer through today only. The meetings begin in a few hours. In order to qualify, groups must have at least all their leading members present and at least one member of their student council to verify that participation is within school regulations and permission. Which in your case would be Honoka, because she's the leader of Muse, and either Nozomi or yourself to represent the student council side, but everyone can go if they want to."

Eli blinked, trying to process all the information.

"So…you're saying…real professional idols…real celebrities…real _paid_ , professional artists…are asking school idols to open for their concerts? In their concerts that take place in arenas and are with well-known record labels and agencies?"

"Exactly."

"Which would mean…that if we were to be accepted…we'd perform in those stadiums in front of thousands more people then we have ever performed to before?" asked Nozomi, taking a quick look at Umi to see her reaction. Umi looked like she was about to faint at any moment.

"Yes. But that's not even including the viewers watching through on TV. Remember, these concerts are broadcasted live. This is a whole new level than what any of us have ever experienced." Tsubasa looked away, "Even we're nervous about it."

Her words left a still silence in the room. More than even A-RISE had ever experienced?

"O-oh…I see." Eli was left completely stunned. What an opportunity to be slapped on the face. She frowned as she tried to process it. _Today_ though. The meeting was _today_. There was no time to think or to plan, if Muse was going to jump on this opportunity, then they needed to make this decision now.

"Are we going to do it? What does this actually require of us?"

Hanayo slammed her palms on the desk where the computer sat, startling everyone.

"Are we? ARE we? Of COURSE we are? How could we not, this is the biggest opportunity for any school idol group ever! We can't turn this down!" the normally quiet girl began stepping towards Eli who looked a little terrified. "We'll never get an opportunity like this in a million years! We have-" Hanayo suddenly stopped talking and glanced around the room anxiously. Her previous air of aggression faded and she was left with an embarrassed look as she quickly added quietly. "I mean, we don't _have_ to…but we should."

Nico stood up and walked beside her with her hands on her hips.

"I agree. This isn't something we can pass up so easily."

Eli was quiet for a moment then grinned. "Who said anything about passing this up?"

"YES!" Honoka jumped up in the air happily. "This is perfect! This way there's no way they'll close the school! There's going to be so much publicity!"

"If we make it." Maki added sternly.

"Oh, I don't think you'll have a problem with that." Tsubasa said with a small smirk, "Muse is incredibly popular, maybe you'll become even more popular than A-RISE soon."

Maki raised an eyebrow at Tsubasa. _"Now that's a bold statement"_

"Eh? No way! You guys are awesome and more experienced!" Honoka gaped at the leader of A-RISE who just laughed in response.

"Experience isn't everything. But don't worry we'll step up our game." Tsubasa winked at the orange haired girl who blushed at the gesture.

"So…how do we begin this process exactly?" Nozomi moved over to sit down by the table. "We need to start on the paperwork right away if we're going to do this."

"Most of paperwork is simple. I'm sure we can get it done quickly we just need to decide which concert dates we want to apply for."

"Oh, we apply by dates?"

"Yes. That way we can choose a concert date that happens to be near us. Since they're touring all of Japan, we have a two concerts that are local to us."

"Two huh? And I'm assuming A-RISE is going to be going for the same two as well?" Eli asked Tsubasa who smiled softly in response.

"Yes we are. But, I was thinking…maybe we can each take one concert date. That way we won't be competing against each other and we have a better chance of getting the spot."

Honoka's eyes widened and she gasped loudly. "You would do that?"

"I would for you." Tsubasa blushed and quickly added, "I mean for all of you…Muse, I mean!"

Maki choked, struggling to hold back a laugh as she watched the leader of a popular school idol group becoming a frantic nervous wreck. Oh the joys of the being in love.

"A-Anyways. What do you all think of that idea?" the leader of A-RISE cleared her throat as she regained her composure.

"I think it's a great idea nya! That way, we both can perform with these idols!"

"Um, I'd like to ask something." Kotori looked away from comforting Umi for the first time, "Which idol group is this?"

"Ryuuguu Komachi!" said Hanayo instantly. Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

Maki gaped. Ryuuguu Komachi? Even she'd heard them, she had seen them on talk shows at the very least and had heard multiple interviews with them on the radio. Now she couldn't really blame Nico and Hanayo for running off in their excitement.

The room was quiet as everyone who was learning this information for the first time processed it.

"Ok, let's get started on this paperwork!" Eli clapped her hands authoritatively.

"Wait, let's get a head count on who's going to this meeting later today." Nozomi looked at Eli, "Are you able to go? I'm supposed to help out at the shrine today after school, but if you can't go I'll go to represent the student council."

"That's alright, I can go. You don't have to cancel anything." Eli smiled and turned to Honoka, "And you? Can you make it?"

"Of course!"

"Does anyone else want to go?" asked Eli looking around to the room.

Hanayo turned to Nico, "Did you manage to find a babysitter for your siblings?"

The third year sighed. "No. It's too last minute, no one is available. So I can't go." She looked away, "I really wish my mom wasn't on a business trip right now…"

Maki blinked. Nico not going?

" _She must be devastated…"_

"I'll babysit."

The words came out of Maki's mouth before she could even think them through. Her? _Babysitting?_ Everyone turned to gape at the red head who began to blush furiously as she realized what she had just done.

"W-What?" Nico stared at Maki in shock. "You…babysitting? No offense but you don't really seem like the type to hang out with children."

"Well…" Maki cleared her throat. "I'm not. But this is a special occasion and I'm willing to step in so you can enjoy it."

"Are you sure about that Maki-chan?" Honoka asked, "I mean maybe I can get Yukiho to watch the store and my mom can babysit…"

"I'm fine. Really, besides I'm not interested in going anyways." This wasn't too far from the truth. While Maki thought that this was certainly an exciting event, she really wasn't that much of an idol fan. She would much rather have Nico enjoy meeting them instead. _"Plus, I might be able to ask her siblings about their father. Kids are innocent, they'll probably tell me easily and not even remembered I asked. This could actually be a great opportunity!"_

"Well ok…are you sure you'll be ok with them though? I mean they're kids. Do you have any experience with kids?"

"If you want, I can go and help you out." Kotori chimed in.

"I'll be fine, you can go with everyone, Kotori. I'm sure you're excited too." Maki looked at Nico reassuringly, "Cocoro seems really capable herself too, so I should be fine."

Nico still looked doubtful. "I don't know…"

"Well I think we should trust Maki." Nozomi grinned at Maki. "I mean, might as well start getting close to the siblings now right?"

Maki inwardly groaned. _"Nozomi could at least try not to be so obvious."_

"Well…I do really want to go…"

"Then go! Maki can handle a few children!" encouraged Nozomi.

"Yeah just go nya!"

"Alright, alright. I'll go. I'll leave it to you, Maki-chan." Nico grinned excitedly and added. "I'm going to meet Ryuuguu Komachi!"

Maki could already feel the nerves from her promise build up. But she smiled at the third year girl either way.

"Alright! Let's get that paperwork started!" Honoka jumped up in the air. "Umi-chan! Stop sulking and help!"

Kotori giggled and dragged her friend out of the corner. "We're all on board Honoka-chan!"

"I'll see you guys later then." Tsubasa moved towards the door. "Maki, do you want a ride to Nico's house? I still have my ride out front."

"Oh, sure. Yeah that'd be great, thanks."

"No problem!"

* * *

"Wait why is Maki coming over again?" Cocoro held the house phone to her ear as she glanced around her house. "The house isn't ready for her!"

Nico sighed on the other end of the phone. "I know, I know. But this is something I really don't want to pass up. You know the drill. Just get Cocoa to help you out. There aren't that many pictures to hide anyways."

"That's true, there's only the one in the kitchen, living room, and in each of our rooms. Maybe five max."

"No, you need to hide the ones with just Mommy too."

"Why with just Mommy? She knows Mommy doesn't she?"

"Yes, but the less exposure she has to any of our parents, the less likely she is to ask about them."

"Ooooh! That makes sense."

"Good, now get started. She's on her way now, and she's in a car so she'll be there soon."

"Ok!"

"And remember-"

"Yeah yeah," interrupted the serious little girl. "I know. Don't tell Maki."

* * *

 **Well, things are definitely going to be picking up the story from here on out!**

 **As always, thanks for sticking with me!**

 **Please review! I love reading reviews! Also, I will be responding to all your reviews from here on out, it has come to my attention that not responding to your reviews that you have taken the time to post and write is a bit rude so I apologize for not doing so previously. So, from now on, I will be responding to any new reviews. :)**

 **Thanks again, I'll update as soon as possible!**


	6. Babysitter

**I am SO sorry for the really late update! All I have to say is that life got crazy, and I've finally gotten a grasp of it. Thank you for sticking with me this far, and I promise I won't take this long to update again!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Babysitter

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Taking care of my little brother and sisters is hard. I'm tired of learning how to cook. Mommy says it's important to learn so that I could feed myself and everyone else whenever she's busy with work. She also said it would help me be a good wife someday. I wonder if being "wife" material will help my idol appeal? Maybe it will help me get some guest appearances on a cooking show or something? I'll try to think about cooking in that way to get myself motivated, because as of right now, all I can think about is how scary it is when frying things with oil! Mommy looked like she felt bad teaching me how to cook when I screamed the first time a little spark of oil shot out the pan. So I later acted like I wasn't scared in front of her. I know it hurts Mommy that she can't be cooking for us or spending time with us, so I am going to be a good big sister from now on. Cocoro has started calling me Onee-sama which I find a little bit weird. But that means I have to definitely be someone she can look up too! You know, maybe learning how to cook won't be so bad. Mommy also mentioned that she might take a new job soon that pays more once Cotaro gets older and when she feels more comfortable leaving him and my sisters in my care. I definitely want her to do it! Then maybe, just maybe, we can afford for me to take dance classes and she won't have to be so stressed all the time. Fingers crossed!_

* * *

Maki sighed as she walked towards Nico's apartment. Tsubasa had been kind enough to offer her a ride, which she now regretted accepting. It just meant that she would arrive at the apartment sooner, which meant even more time spent with Nico's siblings. In reality, she knew her decision was incredibly impulsive, but she couldn't deny that she had felt a surge of pride seeing that her actions had made Nico smile so much. It was worth it, even though she knew she would have to endure hours of awkwardness with Nico's younger siblings, and it didn't help that Maki was not at all experienced in babysitting. But, at least it wouldn't really be entirely _babysitting_. In truth, the three siblings were more than capable of taking care of themselves, and were often home alone as long as Cocoro was there. The little girl was more than capable of watching the younger two. No, the purpose of Maki's presence was mostly to feed the kids, since Nico was the only one capable of cooking dinner while her mother was away. Maki cringed at the image of her attempting to cook a suitable meal for herself and three younger children. Nope, that was not going to happen. She would just take them out to eat instead. But first, she needed to spend time with them at their home, where she could hopefully find out a little bit about the family, more specifically, their father.

She stood in front of the building, just before entering. Finally, she entered and pressed the button to summon the elevator. She eyed the elevator warily as her nerves began to flare.

" _Don't be stupid, get a grip of yourselves. They're just children. Perfectly harmless."_

She stood in front of the door, her hand raised to knock on the door. _"Nico better have called them to tell them I was coming. Otherwise this is going to be a very awkward situation."_

She finally knocked, tentatively, but loudly. The door opened immediately to show an exasperated Cocoro who had a light layer of sweat on her forehead. She looked up at Maki and smiled brightly.

"Hi Maki-chan! Onee-sama told me that you were stopping by! Come in!"

Maki smiled at the younger girl and stepped through the doorway. "Yeah, I'm just covering for a few hours. Nico just had some important things to do with the rest of Muse." She glanced around the room, it was neat and clean, just like the other times she had visited. She walked over to the sofa and sat down, placing her bag next to her.

"Where is Cocoa and Cotaro?"

"They're in their room. I'll go get them now." The girl turned and walked quickly away.

Maki took the chance to observe the room, standing up to examine a picture frame hung on the wall. It was picture of Nico and her siblings, most likely take a few years ago since Nico looked even younger than she does now. Maki turned her head to a nail sticking out of the wall next to the frame. She frowned, was there supposed to be frame there too?

" _Maybe they moved it…but why would they leave the nail there?"_

She walked over to the cabinet where there was another picture of Nico's siblings. This time, it was just Cocoa and Cotoro. The red head began to walk around the room to look for any other pictures.

" _If I can just see one picture of how Nico's father looks like that would really help me look for him. But I don't see any here. Maybe in their rooms?"  
_

"Back up dancer."

Maki turned to face Cotaro who had entered the living room along with his two sisters. She gave a forced smile. It was better to just let him call her that, at least for today.

"Hi Cotaro, Cocoa, how are you?"

Cocoa grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "We. Are. Awesome!"

Maki twirled her hair around her finger nervously. What now?

"Um, so…what do you guys usually do around this time."

Cocoa smiled mischievously. "Well, as long as we don't destroy the house or break any laws…we do whatever we want."

Maki felt her skin crawl. _"There are so many things that can go wrong within those rules."_

"Please tell me you've never broken that rule." said the first year, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer.

The three children burst into laughter. Even Cotaro laughed, wiping his eyes as they watered from his laughter. Maki's eyes widened slightly, not expecting such a reaction from the trio. She chuckled with them, feeling a smile creep onto her face. Seeing the young kids laughing made her heart feel warm, and for the first time, she felt like an older sister.

"Alright, alright, I'm going to assume you haven't gone beyond that." Maki reached towards Cotaro hesitantly, then withdrew her hand, deciding against it.

Cocoa suddenly jumped in front of Cotaro and grabbed Maki's hand to place it on her head. Maki gasped in surprise, and felt her heart warm as she patted the little girls head. Cocoro watched the scene silently, and observed their babysitter's actions and reactions. She had never seen this girl be so affectionate before, if anything she was usually hostile. The older girl had always left the impression that she was uncomfortable and annoyed at something. She had always just assumed that Maki was just not very good with children, and with her older sister Nico being a bit eccentric, she could understand why Maki would be a bit exasperated with her actions every now and then. She was shocked when Nico told her who would be coming over to watch them today, and even more surprised that Nico had agreed. But seeing her now, with Cotaro and Cocoa, the older girl seemed nervous and a little bit uncomfortable, but content. She had to admit, she was impressed. Maybe she would be able to see what her sister saw in this girl, and why she continuously spent time with someone like her.

" _Nico with the heiress. Something I would never have dreamed of before."_ Cocoro thought as Cocoa stepped back from Maki and now Maki confidently reached to pat Cotoaro's head.

Cocoro chirped loudly, "So, what's for dinner?"

Maki turned to face her sheepishly. "Um. To be honest, I can't cook." Her face flushed with embarrassment. "I thought you guys might like to go out to eat? My treat of course."

Cotaro grinned. "Can we get ice cream?"

"After a proper dinner."

Cocoa pouted. "What's a proper dinner? Does it have to be some fancy steak or salad?"

"Eh? No, of course not?"

"Isn't that what rich girls eat though?" asked Cocoro, "No offense" she quickly added as soon as the she finished the sentence. She regretted every word.

"Not really…well, I mean sometimes yes. Wait, how did you know that my family is... well off?"

"Aren't you Dr. Nishikino's daughter?" blurted out Cocoa. Cocoro stiffened at her little sister's words.

Maki raised her eyebrows in response. "Well, yes, but how do you know that? My family doesn't work in the pediatric section of our hospital." She looked at Cocoro who was now glaring at her younger sibling. "My father is a surgeon…has your mother or father had surgery performed by him or…?"

" _If that's the case, then maybe that's why Nico was talking to Papa as if she knew him the other day."_

"No." Cocoro looked away nonchalantly, "Your papa has never _performed_ surgery on our parents."

"O-oh. Ok." Maki frowned. "Then how do you-"

"Back up dancer!" Cotaro interrupted, tugging at Maki's sleeve. "I am hungry, when are we eating?"

Cocoro had never loved her brother more than she did right now. She could see Maki being pulled out of her train of thought at her brother's continuous tugging.

"Right…well, does burgers sound good? We can go to the place I always go to with your sister and the rest of Muse."

"Burgers!" declared Cotaro, slowly raising his fist in the air, triumphantly.

"Sounds awesome!" said Cocoro.

"Yay!" Cocoa began jumping up and down and promptly hugged Maki around her waist.

The high school student patted the girl's head and looked at Cocoro. "Alright, let's go!"

* * *

Maki felt slightly uncomfortable stepping outside of the apartment with the Nico's siblings. She wasn't used to having three younger children trail behind her. She even held one of Cotaro's hands in her own. Cocoro had told her it wasn't necessary, but Maki still felt like he was her responsibility after all. The two sisters chatted excitedly the entire way to the restaurant, skipping ahead every now and then, making Maki nervous when they went too far. She knew it was foolish to worry though, after all, they had first met Cocoro walking by herself in the street, and it wasn't uncommon for children her age to be a little more independent. However, this time, Maki was in charge, and she knew more than anyone how the naivety of young girl could be easily taken advantage of. She shuddered at the thought, but quickly brushed it away as she focused on the two girls skipping ahead of her yet again.

" _At least we're almost there."_

One crossed street later and they were there, standing in front of the fast food restaurant she frequented with her fellow school idols. Maki led the way and opened the door for the Yazawa trio, ushering them inside. The three ran to the counter and chatted excitedly about the menu. They contemplated their order out loud, and would argue about the pros and cons of each value meal. Only Cotaro seemed to know exactly what he wanted as he had simply tugged Maki's sleeve and pointed at the hamburger value that came with a toy hammer.

" _Of course. He loves hammers doesn't he?"_

Finally, the girls had decided what they were going to order.

"Maki-chan! We're ready!"

Maki nodded at the girls and ushered them forward to the counter to place their order. Both girls recited their orders and Maki added hers and Cotaro's after they finished. She paid for the meal and accepted the drinks they handed her, carefully distributing them among the children.

"Let's find a place to sit ok? I'll text Nico-chan while we wait for our order to see how she's doing."

Once seated the girls began swinging their feet happily in their chairs. They loved fries more than anything, and Maki hadn't seemed to mind the fact that they had ordered a large sized fries each. Their mother or Nico never let them have a large of anything, stating that they were far too young to be eating that much and that they had to maintain their figures if they wanted to be idols someday. Cocoro felt a little guilty about making their babysitter spend more money due to their large orders, but quickly brushed it off as she reminded herself that Maki could easily afford it. She watched their babysitter text her sister and noted the smile on her face once the message was sent. As soon as the message sent, the red head's phone rang and an image of Nico filled the screen. Maki quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Maki-chan! How's it going so far? I haven't heard anything from you yet, so I couldn't help but get a little bit worried." Nico's voice could be heard faintly by her sisters, even if Maki held it to her ear.

"We're ok. Sorry about that, I actually just sent you a text like a second before you called. I meant to text earlier but we were walking on the street and I wanted to watch the little ones properly."

Cocoro rolled her eyes when Maki said 'little ones' but Maki didn't seem to notice.

Nico chuckled on the phone. "Of course. Are you guys out of the apartment now?"

"Yes, we're just getting food. I know you said I could cook something with anything in the fridge but…" Maki blushed. "I can't cook, so I thought I'd just take them out for burgers."

"Burgers." Cotaro said suddenly, emphasizing each letter.

Nico laughed out loud. "I completely forgot that you couldn't cook. Sorry about that Maki-chan! But thanks for covering for me anyways, this meeting has been amazing! We already got to speak to Ryuuguu Komachi! They are even cuter in person!"

Maki felt a twinge of jealousy but quickly brushed it away. "I'm glad you're having fun. I'm having a good time with these three too, right guys?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, well I gotta go. Eli is about to turn in our paperwork and go over it with some people here. If you could just walk them back to the apartment after you guys eat that would be great. Cocoro can handle the rest from there, plus I'll probably be home soon after."

"Ok, I'll do that then."

"Thanks again Maki, seriously." With that Nico hung up. Maki looked up to see that their food was ready at the counter for them to pick up.

"I'll go get the food."

* * *

After they had eaten, the Cocoa and Cocoro dragged Maki out of the restaurant chanting "Ice cream, Ice cream, Ice cream!" Cotaro would also join in the chanting with the occasional, drawn out, "Ice cream."

The three each clutched their own bags carrying their leftovers since a large portion did end up being too large for them to each at once. Maki hadn't minded their size choice and just encouraged them to take some to go to eat later. Even Cotaro had leftovers, since his sisters had managed to sneak in an extra order of fries for him when Maki had ordered him a small size. Again, Maki just laughed at them and even ordered an extra meal for Nico to eat when she got home in case she was hungry. Now, the kids were excited to eat their promised dessert, and they were determined to have it at their favorite ice cream store. Maki soon found herself in the same ice cream place that Nico had dragged her too earlier that year. She smiled, it seemed like ages ago with everything that had happened since then.

"Maki-chan! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming! Stop running so quickly!" Maki hurried to follow the three Yazawa siblings into the store. The three children ran to the counter and began peering over the ice cream choices as they contemplated out loud over which flavor to get. The red head walked over and gave the salesman an apologetic look at their rowdiness, but he just flashed a smile in return.

"Alright you guys, have you decided which flavor yet? We don't want to keep people waiting." Maki ushered the three kids together.

"Strawberry!" declared Cocoa.

"Vanilla please!" added Cocoro.

"Chocolate." drawled Cotaro.

"Coming right up." The salesman looked at Maki. "What would you like miss?"

"Strawberry, please." She placed the money on the counter as he began preparing their orders. Each Yazawa gave a squeal of delight when the man handed them their ice cream. They settled in a small table in the corner to eat their desserts, placing their belongings on extra chairs beside them.

" _I don't have much time left. If I'm going to find something out about their father it has to be now. After this, I'm just dropping them off at home and I don't think I'll get another opportunity alone with these three."_

"So," began Maki. "Do your parents bring you here often?"

"Yeah, Mommy does sometimes. Usually right after she comes back from a business trip." Cocoro began focusing on her ice cream.

"Oh really? That nice. How about your dad?" There. She had said it. She had finally brought up the topic.

"No papa." Cotaro said slowly as he ate his ice cream. His voice was his normal, calm voice, as if it wasn't really a secret he was revealing.

Cocoro glanced at her brother with fierce eyes but said nothing. This time, Maki noticed the gesture.

"No papa? What do you mean by that?" Maki looked between Cocoro and Cocoa, hoping to understand more from their reactions on the topic. Cocoa just shrugged while Cocoro began looking slightly frantic.

" _Interesting. Cocoro knows something, something that she doesn't want me to know…but why? Why is this such a secret? What aren't they telling me?"_

"What happened to your dad?"

"It's just us and Mommy," said Cocoro quickly. "That's all. We don't have a dad anymore, which you know isn't even that uncommon. Single parents are everywhere nowadays, no big deal."

Maki frowned. "Yes, but wha-"

"It's so late huh?" Cocoro stood up suddenly. "We should get back to the apartment before it gets too dark don't you think? Cocoa is scared of the dark."

"I am NOT!" cried Cocoa.

Cocoro gave a mischievous look. "Oh? So you wouldn't mind if we left you alone in the street at night by yourself?"

The younger girl visibly paled. "N-no."

Maki reached over to pat her head. "Don't worry. No one is leaving anyone on the streets alone at night. We'll head to your home now." She stood up and motioned them to follow.

It _was_ starting to get dark outside. She had to admit, even though it seemed Cocoro had mentioned the time to change the subject, she was right. It was better to have the three siblings home sooner rather than later. Good thing the ice cream shop was close to the apartment.

* * *

"Are you sure you guys are going to be alright?"

Maki stood at the doorway as the three young children stood in front of her in their living room. Cocoro grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Of course! Onee-sama is on her way over already!"

Maki sighed and couldn't help but think that she didn't want to leave. Not just because she felt responsible, but because she couldn't deny this warm fuzzy feeling she felt whenever they laughed or smiled at something she said of did. It was different from the tingling butterflies she felt whenever Nico looked at her, but it was still warm. She never had any opportunities to spend time with younger children, and this occasion had shown her that she rather liked spending time with them. It was more than responsibility, it was pride. Pride that she could make them smile, and it was proof to herself that she could accept Nico as she was, family and all.

"Alright. I'll be leaving now. I already called my dad to pick me up anyways, so he'll be here any minute."

" _I wonder if he remembers how to get here? He can be hopeless with directions…even though he found the place just fine last time."_

She started to turn away from the apartments. Looking back one last time she said.

"Don't forget to lock the door ok? Nico-chan has her own key."

"Ok ok! We got this!"

With that, the door was closed behind her. Maki sighed again and began walking away.

" _I would call that a success. Even though I didn't find out much about their father, I still got to spend time with them and get to know them a bit better."_ She smiled. _"I hope they will continue to trust me."_

* * *

She walked out of the building just in time to see her father pull up. To her surprise, the passenger door opened and Nico stepped out. She looked slightly annoyed, but her face brightened as soon as she made eye contact with Maki.

"Nico-chan?"

"Hi Maki!" She jogged over the bewildered first year. "Tell your dad thanks for the ride! It really helped me get here faster."

"Oh…he gave you a ride?"

The older girl nodded. "Yeah, he saw me walking and offered me a ride since he figured I was heading home."

"I see. I'm surprised he recognized you."

Nico's smile faltered slightly. "Right. Well you know old people. They remember things easier. But more importantly," she eyed Maki carefully. "How did it go?"

Maki smirked and brushed the hair out of her face. "It went well, obviously. Even I can do this much."

Nico laughed. "Ok that's good. I hope they didn't give you too much trouble. Even I admit that they can be handful sometimes. But again…thank you…for everything. I really appreciate it. I had a great time."

Nico walked past Maki towards her apartment. "I'll see at school tomorrow! Be ready for a lot of practice!"

Maki waved good bye to Nico then approached her father's car. She opened the car door and was greeted by her father's beaming face.

"Hi! How was your first time hanging out with children? Nico told me all about how you volunteered to babysit."

"It was ok. So, you just happened to recognize Nico?"

"Yeah I did." Dr. Nishikino started driving away from Nico's apartment once Maki had strapped herself in. "I saw her walking alone on the street on my way over here. It's dark already and I didn't want her walking out there on her own. If anything happened to that girl I wouldn't be able to live myself…and you know how dangerous the streets could be."

"Yeah, I do." Maki answered quietly, looking out the window. "Hey Papa, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Have you met Nico's parents before? Maybe at the hospital sometime?"

Her father took a quick breath and glanced at her quickly in surprise. "That's unexpected. What makes you ask that?"

"Just wondering. You said her family are members at our hospital and I can't help but notice you seem a bit…familiar with Nico."

Her father laughed. Although Maki observed that it was not genuine.

"Not at all. I just pay attention. I remember her from when I picked you up the first time that's all."

"Really? That's all?"

"Of course." He faced forward. "No need to read too much into it."

"O-ok."

"Tell me something, are you sure you're feeling ok? You've spent so much time outside of home lately, and when you are home you just sit in your room with the door closed. Are your studies going well? It's been a long time since you've talked about your test scores to us."

"My test scores are fine!"

" _I may not have the top score of the class, but I'll just do better next time!"_ Maki thought bitterly. She hated to be anything but the top of the class. She couldn't help the slight shift in scores with everything that had been going on.

Dr. Nishikino frowned slightly but said nothing. After a period of silence he spoke again.

"You know…if you're struggling with anything you can tell us. We love you and all we would ever want to do is help you."

"I told you I'm fine! You're acting as if I'm being completely abnormal which I'm not. School is busy that's all, and that is completely normal, its high school."

"Of course…I'm sorry. Just promise you'll let me know ok?"

"Ok, I promise."

Maki sat back in her seat and looked outside her window. By now, the sky had lost its color and darkness loomed over the city. She felt guilty keeping secrets, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't the only one keeping secrets.

" _But what could there possibly be to hide?"_

* * *

 **I apologize again for how long this took to update! Thank you everyone who has favorited/followed this story, it really means so much!**

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 **Until next time :) (I promise it won't take too long for the next chapter!)**


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